


The Road to Our Forever

by writeanddontstop



Category: John Wick (Movies), Keanu Reeves - Fandom
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27117580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeanddontstop/pseuds/writeanddontstop
Summary: John and Darcie are planning their wedding, but it comes with certain ups and downs.
Relationships: John Wick & Original Female Character(s), John Wick/Darcie Angel, John Wick/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

My parents went home and Jennie and Raye have left as well, leaving me and John alone with the dogs in our apartment. It happened a couple of hours ago, but I can’t help but keep staring at my ring. The realization just keeps hitting me over and over again: I just got engaged.

_John Wick wants to marry me._

I’m sitting on the couch, my knees pressed against my chest, holding out my hand so I can look at my ring. Leave it to John to pick out the most beautiful one. Though I knew that he was pretty rich (still don’t know the real number, but I doubt I want to know), I never imagined he would buy me an engagement ring this expensive. Imagine everything he’ll want to spend on our wedding bands, our wedding in general and my dress…

Despite wearing a ring this expensive and thinking about a moment when I can scold him for buying me a ring of ten grand, I can’t wait to show it to everyone. Oh my God, Greg, Tina, Roger and Ellie are going to die when they see this ring.

Oh my, am I really a woman who can’t wait to show teenagers that she got engaged? Did I become that type of woman?

‘And a hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream for my beautiful fiancée.’ John places two mugs on the small coffee table in front of us and plops next to me. ‘Still staring at the ring?’ he asks amused.

‘Well, I can’t stop,’ I laugh. ‘I mean, it’s so beautiful, John. You did well.’ I lean back against the couch and throw my legs over his. He places a large and heavy hand on my leg, peeling my pajama pants out of my thick socks, so he can touch my skin.

‘You know, Darcie, you never told me you were prom queen.’

I frown. ‘How do you know about that? I can’t remember I ever told you.’

‘Jennie told me, when we were talking about the proposal. She warned me never to propose to you in public.’

I start to laugh. ‘Oh God, she told you that embarrassing story.’ I wrinkle my nose when I think about that awful moment. ‘It was terrible,’ I confess. ‘I mean, when he asked me to prom, that was embarrassing enough, but becoming prom queen as well… I wanted to disappear.’

‘I heard he became prom king as well.’

I nod. ‘Obviously. I mean, he was really popular, but despite the fact he was kind of a jock, he was pretty decent. What was his name again?’ I frown, trying to remember his name. I remember his dark brown hair and his light grey eyes, his sweet smile and how he was really attractive. Every girl in high school was in love with him and I even had a few dreams about him. ‘Wesley!’ I exclaim. ‘Wesley Anderson. He was really sweet, though I was probably the worst date ever.’

‘I bet you weren’t,’ John laughs.

‘He tried to kiss me four times when we were on the dance floor, but I kept ducking away. Poor guy, he was such a gentleman the entire night. While we were dancing and some of his dirty friends would come close to me, he’d swat their hands away when he noticed I was uncomfortable.’

‘Did you eventually kiss him?’ he asks.

I nod. ‘We did. He took me upstairs in our school building and kissed me. It got “intense”, like his hands would roam my back and kept going lower. Since I was even worse back then when it came to being prude, I pushed him off and avoided him like the plague the rest of prom, graduation. I even hid a few times when I would see him in like Central Park and stuff. Poor kid. I wonder how he is doing.’

John nods. ‘Do you have a picture of your prom?’

I grab my laptop and start dig around in all the files. ‘Here.’ I click on one that my dad made. I try to ignore the thick fringe that is covering my forehead. My cheeks are a bit fuller and I look really uncomfortable. Wesley has his hand on my shoulder and I remember nearly fainting when he did that. I mean, he was the most popular guy in school.

‘You look adorable,’ John notes, looking at the pictures of me wearing a light blush pink dress. ‘You know, one day we watch our own kids go to prom.’

All of the sudden I feel tears building up in my eyes. ‘Oh my God,’ I choke out. ‘I’m getting old.’

He starts to laugh, but when he looks up, he sees I’m actually crying. ‘Oh no, baby, don’t cry. It’s a good thing you’re getting older.’ He closes my laptop and places it beside him, before he pulls me on his lap. ‘If you didn’t get older, you’d be dead.’

‘How wise, Wick. Can we print that out, please, so we can hang that inspirational quote here on the wall?’ I try to laugh, but the tears are just continuing to drip out of my eyes.

‘What is bothering you?’

‘It’s just that… One, I’m getting old. Two, I need to start planning a wedding, while running a cafe. Three, when I get pregnant, I’m going to be fat, while you continue to look as handsome as ever.’

John tries to hold back a laugh, but I can see he really wants to laugh at me. ‘Sweetheart,’ he says in a sweet tone. ‘The only old person in this room is me, remember that. Wherever you are: I’m always going to be older than you. Two, _we_ need to start planning a wedding and about your cafe… Let me do the paperwork, while you do what you love, okay?’

I sigh deeply, wiping away the tears in my eyes. ‘Yeah.’

‘And when you get pregnant, you’re not going to be fat. You’re going to look pregnant. I’ll gain a few sympathy pounds if you want me to.’

I can’t help but laugh. ‘Idiot.’

John presses his lips against my temple, before whispering: ‘I’ll always love you, future Mrs. Wick.’


	2. Chapter 2

It’s the end of January, which means that I’ve been engaged to John for about a month now. Yet Ellie and Tina can’t stop looking at my ring when I bring them their orders.

‘Mister Wick has such great taste,’ Tina admits, holding my hand as she checks out my ring. ‘You’re going to be Mrs. Wick.’

‘Do we need to call you that?’ Roger asks, wrapping his arm around Ellie. ‘After you get married?’

I shake my head. ‘No, for you guys I’ll always be miss Angel. I think if the four of you start to call me Mrs. Wick, I won’t even respond.’

‘Miss Angel fits you,’ Greg says. ‘I mean, I could see you as a Mrs. Wick, but I can’t see us say that.’

John bursts into the cafe, causing people to look up from their tables, including the high school kids and me. He has something in his hand. The dogs jump up when they see me and I pat them on their heads. John walks up to me and gives me a long kiss, causing the high school kids to be disgusted and they are not afraid to let us know.

‘Are you okay?’ I ask, when he lets me go of that long kiss, that—to be honest—made me a little bit weak in the knees. He barely greets me like this when he comes back into the cafe.

Oreo and Tiki are welcomed by the kids, but they all steal glances, wondering what has gotten into John’s mind and to be honest, I’m quite curious as well. This is not how my _fiancé_ usually acts.

‘I’ve got something for you,’ John says. He hands me the heavy envelope that has my name on it.

When I turn it around, I recognize the stamp on it and I squeal. ‘Is this what I think it is?’

I don’t even wait for his response, as I rip open the envelope and see that it’s the Harper’s Bazaar edition of February. Two weeks ago I did a photoshoot and an interview with them and I can’t believe it’s finally here. There is a note attached to it, saying that they had such a good time with me and that they hope that it’ll arrive at my house before February 1st, when the magazine will hit the shelves and they can’t wait to see where my life is going after this. 

‘Oh my God,’ I say, while I browse through the magazine, hoping to find my own part. ‘It’s three whole pages.’

‘Is that the interview?’ Ellie asks. ‘The one that you told us about a few weeks ago?’

‘It certainly is!’

  
  


John and I have taken place at his table, but all the high school kids are reading with me over my shoulder. ‘Oh my God,’ I say with a smile. ‘This is amazing.’

‘You are beautiful, Darcie,’ Ellie says. ‘You are truly living the dream life, aren’t you?’

‘It kind of looks like it,’ I say with a chuckle.

John presses a kiss on my temple and says: ‘I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.’

‘You are the absolute coolest,’ Roger says. ‘I mean, you named us in your interview. I’m going to buy this magazine when it comes out and I’m showing everyone how awesome the cafe manager is that I visit everyday.’

‘But miss Angel,’ Greg says, after the kids are done admiring the article, ‘are we invited to your wedding?’

I haven’t even thought about the wedding invitations. I have thought about the wedding, the location, but not who I want to invite.

‘You want to come?’ John asks, when I don’t respond right away.

‘Of course!’ Tina squeaks. ‘I’ve never been to a wedding.’

‘And I bet you’re going to look beautiful,’ Greg says, causing me to roll my eyes and say: ‘You’re such a kiss ass.’

‘Please, miss Angel,’ Roger begs. ‘That’ll probably my only chance that I can dance with you.’

‘You’re such a moron,’ I tell him. ‘We don’t know when we’re getting married yet, but the four of you will get an invitation.’

John starts to laugh when Roger and Ellie give me a kiss on my cheeks and I roll my eyes, before I burst into laughing as well. ‘Okay, I have to go back to work now,’ I say. ‘You want to read this, honey, or can I show it to Raye and Jennie?’

‘Show them,’ John says. ‘I’ve got enough to do.’

‘Oh mister Wick, you’re not going to talk to us?’ Roger asks, looking genuinely disappointed and I know that John can’t say no to them. Even if he had different things in mind to do, he’d do anything for those kids.

Imagine the things he’ll do for our own.

I give John a kiss on his cheek and whisper: ‘I love you, mister Wick.’

‘I love you too, future Mrs. Wick.’

⟢⟡⟣

After work, John and I take the dogs out for a walk in Central Park, before we head back to our apartment. ‘I have been thinking,’ I say to him.

‘Tell me all about it,’ John says, squeezing my hand.

I don’t understand—and probably never will—how this man’s hands are not ice cold. I’m wearing the thickest mittens one could wear, while he isn’t at all. Even through the thick fabric of my mitten, I can feel how warm he is.

‘Maybe you and I need to look for a different place. Like, a house.’

This gains John’s attention. ‘You mean, for when we have kids?’

I nod. ‘We only have room for one kid right now and that would mean that your bookbinding stuff has to move and we don’t have a guest room anymore. Though I love my apartment, I know that Jennie is also struggling financially and has to get out of her house in six months. My mother told me about it. I thought that maybe that we can give her that apartment, while we move into another house.’

‘If Jennie is struggling… Why didn’t she tell us?’

‘She once told me that when her parents died, she was left with debts. My parents helped her out, but she felt so guilty for it. I know that if we help her out financially, like, with literal money, she’d never accept it. An apartment, while we move into another house, that’s something she’d maybe accept.’

John nods. ‘Well, I do think it would be the perfect timing. I can look for something when you’re working. You have particular wishes?’

I shake my head. ‘Not really, just enough rooms for our kids and for us. A big kitchen, that’s a must.’

John nods again. ‘How many kids do you want?’

I shrug. ‘At least two and then pretty close together. Growing up I always felt pretty lonely and having someone your own age who is always there… I think that would be nice. How about you?’

He chuckles. ‘I mean, if it were up to me, five or more.’

‘Five or more?’ I repeat in a loud voice. ‘Oh my God, do you hate me? Why would you do that to me?’

‘I won’t, don’t you worry,’ he laughs. ‘I think two or three kids is perfect for us.’

We get back to the car and when we’re inside, I take off my mittens. ‘God, I’m so cold,’ I mentions, rubbing my hands together.

John holds them between his, so he can warm them. ‘My beautiful fiancée,’ he says with a smile. ‘God, I know it has been a month, but saying those words… It makes me happy.’

‘Me too,’ I admit. ‘And though I already used you as my personal human heater before we got engaged, I’ll continue to do so and when we get home, you better join me in the shower.’

‘I’ll never say no to that,’ John chuckles. He presses a kiss on both of my hands and starts the car, heating it up as we drive home. It’s not surprising we’re stuck in traffic, but that gives John plenty of time to fantasize about our future house.

‘You know,’ he starts, ‘when you and I have kids, I can see us on Sunday mornings in bed and the kids jump on top of us, their giggles filling the room. Then we’ll make breakfast as a family, maybe eat outside, listening to the birds. Then we all get ready so we can hang out at the cafe.’

For a brief moment I can see it all happening. ‘John,’ I say, when I’m back in reality and snapped out of that lovely thought. ‘Do you want kids right away? Right after we get married?’

He shrugs. ‘I want them whenever you are ready, sweetheart. I mean, you’re doing the hard work.’

I can’t help but chuckle. ‘So, no rush for you?’

‘No rush for me,’ he confirms. ‘I’m ready whenever you are ready.’


	3. Chapter 3

Darcie has always been pretty discreet about her period. Sure, John knew when it was that time of the month again and he comforted her when needed. He would go to the store to buy her pads and chocolate, but he never saw actual blood. Her used pads were always neatly put away and she never bled through during the night.

Until today.

John wakes up, with a wet feeling near his crotch. His cheeks already burn with embarrassment. Did he really turn into a teenage boy again, simply because Darcie’s ass rubbed him in that area during the night when he spooned her?

However, when he looks down, he notices the bright red color. Since he was spooning Darcie like he usually does, he sees the red spot on her pajama short and the bed and the sheets.

‘Sweetheart,’ he whispers, nudging her awake.

She blinks and looks up, her eyes a little puffy, just like her cheeks. _God, John loves her so much._ ‘What?’

‘You got your period.’

Within a millisecond, Darcie is wide awake. ‘Oh no, oh no,’ she mutters. ‘Oh shit, the entire bed is di— No, John, I got it on you too. I’m so sorry.’ She’s already out of bed, but she presses her hand against her lower abdomen. Her other hand, she places on the mattress, as she winces a little.

‘Sweetheart, it’s okay,’ John says, getting out of bed as well.

‘No, this is fucking disgusting.’

‘It’s just a bit of blood. Darcie, you’re talking to me. I have seen my fair share of blood.’

She doesn’t laugh, instead she looks up with annoyance in her eyes. ‘John, this came out of my vagina.’

‘So?’ John can’t help but laugh. ‘Really, I don’t care. How about you hop in the shower and I put the sheets and our underwear in the washer. I recently saw that it has a special program for blood stains.’

‘No, I’ll do it,’ Darcie says, being the stubborn woman she can be sometimes. ‘This is my blood, my thing… I’ve got it.’

This is weird, John thinks to himself. She gets pretty stubborn from time to time, insisting to do things by herself, he knows and adores that about her, but seeing her slightly panicked, tears building in her eyes… John walks up to her and holds her shoulders in his hands. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asks. ‘It’s honestly not that bad and you are kind of overreacting.’

She wiggles herself out of John’s hands and starts to take off the sheets, and the sheet underneath the first one. He hears her sigh and finally she says: ‘One time, Eric bought himself a new bed. The first night we slept in it, I got my period too. He was furious when he discovered it. He kept telling me how I should pay for a new mattress, since it was my blood.’

John’s blood start to boil. He hates Eric and every single thing that bastard has ever done to Darcie. Five whole years she spend with him and sometimes John can still see the aftermath of Eric’s mistreatment. It’s not something that she deserves and it makes him extra determent to take even better care of her. To show her that she is worth it to be loved to pieces.

‘So, I’d like to keep that part for myself,’ she says. ‘The fact that you already buy pads for me without feeling embarrassed or that you give me extra massages, feels too much already. I haven’t bled through in years. Not since that Eric accident. I can’t believe this happened and I’m going to clean it up.’

‘Sweetheart,’ John says. ‘I’m going to be your husband. What I said before, I have seen my fair share of blood, so this doesn’t faze me at all. It’s part of life, it’s totally natural and I love you, no matter how much you bleed on me.’

Darcie has tears in her eyes and finally they slide over her red cheek. He wraps her up in a tight hug. ‘I think I stained the mattress too,’ she whispers against his chest.

‘I don’t mind,’ he says. ‘I’ll clean it up, you go under the shower.’

After John cleaned it all up, he hears that Darcie is still in the shower. Since it was pretty early on in the morning and the dogs are still asleep, he decides that he should join her.

She stares to the wall, but doesn’t jump up when he joins her. He wraps his arms around her from behind and peppers the left side of her face with kisses. ‘This is the last thing you should beat yourself up about,’ John whispers. ‘It’s all taken care of.’

‘I know,’ she confesses. ‘I was just a bit panicked. Thought you might get mad.’

‘Have I ever gotten mad at you?’

Darcie turns around so she can face him. ‘Never actually, but I have been mad at you two times.’

‘When?’

‘When I found out about your true job,’ she says and that hurts John a little, since he just wants to forget that part of their relationship.

‘Right,’ John mumbles. ‘I totally get that you got mad, but it still stings when I think about it.’

Darcie kisses his bearded jaw. ‘And of course when you gotten really protective over me when we were out for diner, when in reality, it was my old neighbor, married with three kids, who just came out to say hi to me.’ She chuckles. ‘It was kind of funny come to think of it, but I was really pissed.’

John blushes. ‘Sorry sweetheart,’ he chuckles.

She clears her throat. ‘John, why are you never mad at me? I must do things that annoy the shit out of you.’

John shakes his head. ‘You don’t,’ he says.

‘Oh come on.’ Darcie slaps him across his bare chest. ‘There are plenty of things I do that annoy you.’

‘There is just one thing,’ John says, taking her face between his hands, ‘and that is how hard you are on yourself. But I know that getting mad at you for that will not help. Besides, I have been angry and mad at the world for too long now. I’d rather stay calm, especially with you.’

‘Leave it up to you to make this al poetic and romantic,’ Darcie says, causing John to laugh. She stands on her tippy toes and gives him a kiss. ‘Thank you for being you, John. You have no idea how much that means to me.’

⟢⟡⟣

John haven’t stopped looking for houses, ever since Darcie mentioned it. He loves their apartment, but she is right. When they have a kid, they definitely need more space, especially since John knows he is going to spoil them to death by buying them all sorts of stuff that they probably won’t even need. They need a fresh start with a new place.

John wants the house to be close to her cafe. If moving into his house in Mill Neck wasn’t already off the table, it is now. Though he can’t live with her there, he can’t sell the house. He is barely there, he knows that, but giving that house up, is giving Helen up.

He knows that Helen wants him to be happy and he bet she is looking down on him and is happy. It’s what she wanted, she told him herself. He should go out and find someone else, someone who would make him happy. There is not only one soulmate in the world for you. John always thought that wasn’t true, but then he met Darcie.

He sits behind his laptop at his own table at the cafe. Usually he likes it when Greg, Roger and Tina (and occasionally Ellie) are there, but today he is happy that he is just here by himself. He truly loves it to talk to them, but since he can’t say no to them, he would probably be talking to them now, instead of looking for a house.

John stares at the screen. While money isn’t the problem for them, he knows that she’ll make a big deal out of it, but also: she doesn’t have the time and energy (and concentration for that matter) to go look for houses. He needs to think about how he is going to do this.

He scrolls through the website and keeps looking for houses. He finally starts to use some filters, so he isn’t looking at gorgeous penthouses. He clicks on townhouses and this the type of place he wants to look at for them.

Finally John stumbles across one that’s on sale for forty million dollars, but that isn’t the reason he stops mid scroll. He checks out the pictures and realizes that this might be the most perfect house for them.

What if he would check it out? He could take the dogs back to the apartment and check it out. From the looks of it, it seems like Darcie is going to be pretty busy for awhile. He stands up, shoves the laptop in his bag and because he is all of the sudden on the move, the dogs look up and wag their tails. 

Darcie notices it too, because she walks up to him and asks: ‘You’re leaving?’

‘Yeah, but I’ll be here to pick you up.’ He gives her a long kiss on her lips and smiles when he lets her go. Though she has no idea what he is up to, he can’t wait to tell her. ‘I love you a lot.’

‘Love you too,’ she says with a smile. ‘Later, sweetheart.’ She gives the dog a kiss on top of their heads.

He rushes out of the cafe with Oreo and Tiki and he drives them home. After that, he calls the realtor and asks if he can have a look at that house.

John parks in front of the townhouse and when he gets out, the realtor gets out of the door. It already looks better than it did on the site. Is John really going to do this? Is he really going to check out a house for them to move in?

‘Mister Wick?’ the realtor asks. He introduces himself as Harry and he shows him the house. To put it simply, it’s beautiful. Very off white, but he knows that Darcie will make this place feel like a home, by adding a lot of pink details and accessories.

It has seven bedrooms and ten bathrooms. Now he knows that they’ll never use that much space, they can always remodel. It even has an indoor pool and John can already see the joy on not only their faces when they splash around in it, but also when they have kids. He can already see a lot happening here with their kids.

The kitchen is twice as large as the one in the apartment and he knows that once they have kids, he’ll make breakfast for them. He likes it that Darcie is seated on the counter, but there is room for at least five kids on there as well.

‘But this,’ Harry says, ‘is the best part.’

He opens the door and John is met by a huge roof terrace. Though it’s a little plain, he knows the wonders Darcie can do. She already did it with her balcony, imagine what she can do here.

He walks to the edge of the terrace. The view is spectacular and when he looks up, he can see him, Darcie and their kids looking at the sky on a warm summer night.

This is it. This is the place he wants to move in. This is the place he wants to grow old. Where he wants to start his new life.

With Darcie.


	4. Chapter 4

It’s weird to have a day off, since Darcie is such a workaholic. The two of them are strolling through New York City, with Oreo and Tiki trotting in front of them. They have to kill some time, before they can check out the house. John already told her about the beautiful place he visited, but wanted to keep it all a surprise, saying that it would be nicer if it were a surprise.

Though that is true, he just wants to make sure she gives the place a chance and if she knows what it costs or she even sees it on the site, she’ll say no right away.

John holds Darcie’s hand firmly in his, almost like he’s afraid he’ll lose her. It’s a plausible fear, since it’s pretty crowded and Darcie isn’t the tallest.

It’s always nice to spend time with Darcie. Though they spend every day together, John never gets tired of her.

Hence the reason why he can’t wait to marry her.

They walk through Central Park and plop on a bench. It’s cold outside and Darcie’s nose is as red as Rudolph’s, but she looks cute. She always does. Tiki takes places on John’s lap and he smiles when he sees Oreo snuggled against Darcie. That dog really loves her, always smiling at her, licking her hand and attached to her like velcro.

‘John,’ Darcie says, gaining his attention, ‘do you think we’re boring?’

He frowns. ‘Why are you asking that?’

‘Because I was watching some vlogs on YouTube and saw these couples do all these fantastic and adventurous things together. Now I know that you should never compare yourself to them, because it’s fake anyways, but I realized that we barely do anything. Mainly because I’m always working. I mean, you have all the time in the world. And money for that matter.’

John wraps his arm tightly around her petite frame, his embrace already so much warmer than she initially is. ‘I don’t think we are boring. We have fun in our own way. I don’t really need to go out and do a lot of things with you. But if you want to do more things outside of the house, meaning you need to work a little less, you don’t hear me complaining.’

She rolls her eyes, before she starts chuckling. ‘So, you don’t think we are boring?’

‘No, sweetheart. I think we are the opposite of boring. Maybe not as adventurous as other couples might be, but we are certainly not boring.’ John leans over to give her a long kiss on her lips, before pressing his forehead against hers. Their noses bump against each other, causing John to note: ‘Your nose is cold.’

‘I am freezing.’

Before he can say anything to that, they hear a: ‘John, how are you, man?’

They both look up and John recognizes him immediately. ‘Aurelio,’ he says, holding out his hand. ‘This is my fiancée Darcie. Darcie, this is Aurelio. He owns a chop shop and we used to work together.’

‘Nice to meet you, Aurelio,’ she says with a bright smile, holding out her hand.

‘It’s lovely to meet you, Darcie.’ He shakes her hand. ‘I think congratulations are in order. Last time I spoke to John, you were his girlfriend.’

‘When did you speak to John?’

Aurelio looks at John, before he says: ‘When you were taken by that psycho.’

John never told her about how he took preparations, but that was mainly because she never asked. He always has issues with opening up about those types of things and when she doesn’t ask, he can’t open up about that.

Darcie seems unfazed as she nods.

Aurelio pats Oreo’s head. ‘Just saw you two sitting here,’ Aurelio continues. ‘Figured I asked how you were doing.’

‘Thanks, man,’ John says.

‘By the way, Darcie, I heard you did an interview with a magazine. Pretty big deal, was it not?’

Darcie nods, her eyes beginning to shine bright. ‘Yes, I did an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. It already caused a ton of people coming by, really amazing. Didn’t peck you for a guy who reads that kind of magazine, though.’

Aurelio can’t help but laugh. ‘No, I heard about it. You own a pretty successful cafe, right?’

‘Mhm, you should stop by. Tomorrow I’m working again. John is there a lot too, maybe you two can catch up a little.’

He nods. ‘Sounds like a plan. I can come by at ten.’

‘Ten is perfect,’ Darcie says with a smile that just keeps getting brighter and brighter.

Aurelio takes off, patting the dogs on their heads and Darcie looks to the side. ‘Are you mad at me?’ she asks.

‘Why do you ask?’

‘Because I invited him over.’ She warms her hands a bit, but it seems more like a nervous thing. ‘I just did it, figured it might be nice for you to catch up with him. I didn’t even consider that you might not want that, since he was part of your older life. I should’ve let you decide. I’m sorry’

John shakes his head. ‘No, sweetheart. I think it’s great that you invited him over. Aurelio and I used to get along pretty good.’ He really doesn’t want to talk to her about his past, but with the way she’s looking at him right now, he can’t help but tell her. She deserves to know. ‘When I got out out the first time and Helen had died, he helped me out a bit. I’ll tell you the details about that later, okay?’ He looks a little bit around him, seeing the crowds forming around them.

She nods. ‘I understand.’

‘When you went missing, I wanted to go to my house in Mill Neck, where I had my own stuff, but I didn’t have time to lose, so I went to him.’

‘He sounds like a friend,’ she says.

‘I don’t consider us friends, really.’

‘I do.’ Darcie places her hand on his leg and says: ‘He helped you out twice, he sees you here, comes over to say hi and wants to spend time with you in my cafe. Acquaintances don’t do that, John. Friends do.’

⟢⟡⟣

‘You are fucking kidding me, I hope?’ Darcie asks, when she got out of the car, holding Tiki close to her chest, since the poor thing is really cold. ‘This is the house you wanted to check out?’

‘It is, sweetheart,’ John says, placing his arm around her shoulder, holding Oreo’s leash in his hand. ‘Don’t you think it looks beautiful already?’

‘It looks big,’ she says. ‘And unaffordable.’

John can’t respond to that, since the door opens and the friendly realtor Harry walks outside. ‘Mister Wick!’ he says in an ecstatic voice. ‘You made it.’

‘Hi, Harry,’ John says, ‘this is my fiancée Darcie. Darcie, this is the realtor Harry.’

‘Future Mrs. Wick,’ Harry says, shaking her hand, ‘mister Wick already told me you were going to love this place.’

She looks up to John. ‘Did he now?’ she asks, cocking an eyebrow.

‘Oh, you have such sweet dogs,’ Harry says, glancing at Oreo. ‘Mister Wick told me about your wishes for kids. Well, you are going to love this place then. Very kid friendly. Follow me.’ He walks inside and Darcie clears her throat.

‘What more did you share?’ she asks.

‘Not much,’ he laughs, pressing a kiss on her temple. ‘You heard the man, follow him.’

Darcie nearly dislocates her jaw while she walks through the house. John thinks that she doesn’t even hear what Harry has to say. She stares at the indoor pool, the large kitchen and when they arrive at the roof terrace, she is still speechless.

‘Future Mrs. Wick has been very quiet,’ Harry says, while Darcie is looking at the windows in the master bedroom, one that John plans for them to have, because of the balcony.

‘She is just thinking,’ John whispers back, but to be fair, he doesn’t really know what is going on inside her head. Darcie has a frown between her furrowed brows, but he can’t quite categorize it. He doesn’t know what her frown means and not being able to read his fiancée’s facial expressions… That has never happened before and John doesn’t know if that is a good sign of a very bad sign.

‘Harry, could you leave us alone for a minute?’ John asks and Harry walks out of the room within a few seconds. ‘Okay, sweetheart, tell me what you think.’

‘How much is this place?’ Darcie asks him. ‘And be honest with me.’

Is she mad? Maybe it wasn’t a good idea for them to check out this place when she’s on her period. This morning she snapped at him for eating a little too loud.

‘It’s forty.’

‘Forty what?’

‘Million.’

‘For fuck’s sake, John,’ she exclaims. ‘I don’t have that kind of money.’

‘But I do,’ John simply states. ‘Sweetheart, you never have to worry about money ever again.’

‘You keep saying that,’ Darcie says. ‘You say that every time I want to tell you that my engagement ring was too much. You say that when you tell me that I can have the wedding of my dreams, because you’re going to pay for it. You say that about my still to buy wedding dress, our honeymoon to Japan and I already know you are planning something extravagant for that trip. You want to pay for the tickets for my family to fly over from South Korea and you are already checking the best and the most expensive hotels around here.’

‘So?’

She sighs deeply. ‘John, you worked for that money and to just spend it on this townhouse for forty million dollar…’

‘It’s not that I’m broke after buying this place, sweetheart,’ he tries to reassure her.

‘There must be houses that are less expensive and just as beautiful.’

‘Aha, so you like this place?’

Darcie rolls her eyes, before a small smile appears on her face. ‘I mean, yeah… It’s beautiful and I can totally see us living here with our kids, but I can’t live like this, knowing that you payed for this.’

‘Darcie, my money is yours to spend. I have too much of it, really. Spending it on you and with you, is the greatest investment for me. One day, in the far far future, when I die, I leave all that money to you and our kids and when you die, the kids get the remaining money.’ John shrugs like it’s nothing.

‘But what if we get divorced before you die?’ Darcie asks. ‘Don’t you think we should sign at least a prenup? Just in case.’

‘We’re not divorcing, Darcie. I’m not going to let you go and if we somehow do get divorced, I don’t mind that you get half of it.’

She nearly pulls out her hairs. ‘John, this is a lot.’

He shrugs. ‘Barely.’

‘For me it’s a lot,’ she adds. ‘But this place… It’s so beautiful. I just want you to think about this really well, because this is a huge amount of money.’

‘I can pay for it,’ John says. ‘Don’t you worry about it.’

Darcie sighs deeply. She frowns again, looking around her. John’s heart starts to race. What if she doesn’t like it? What if she says no? Will there be an even more perfect house for them on the market?

‘It’s close to your work,’ John says, hoping he can persuade her. ‘We can park our car in front of the door, always. It’s close to schools, I’ve already been checking those out. It’s close to tons of things to do with kids. I mean, it’s very close to Central Park.’

Darcie walks up to him and wraps her arms around his shoulders. She brings her lips to his ear and whispers: ‘When can we move in?’


	5. Chapter 5

This is so weird. John and I bought a house. I feel so grown up right now. The apartment where we now live, was a gift from my parents. Since John payed for the entire townhouse, it should feel like a gift, but it doesn’t, really. It feels like an accomplishment for the both of us.

The next morning when John and I are driving off to work, I can’t stop beaming with happiness and pride. ‘John,’ I say. ‘Am I dreaming?’

He starts to laugh. He holds my hand tightly in his, while he maneuvers the car on the busy roads of New York City. ‘You are not. This is a hundred percent real.’ He brings my hand to his lips, to press multiple kisses on my ring finger, very close to my engagement ring. ‘We are very close to getting married, very close on moving in,’—around my birthday—‘and after that, you and I are going to start a family. I have to tell myself every single day that this is truly happening, so I get that you think this is a dream.’

I place my head against his shoulder. ‘I love you so much.’

‘I love you too.’

‘By the way, the wedding dress store called this morning,’ I say, ‘I can come by in four days to have a first orientating fitting session.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, I wrote them that I would love it if we could get a fitting on a Sunday morning, so I could bring everyone with me.’ I place my chin on his shoulder. ‘Are you going to go with me?’

‘Isn’t that bad luck?’ John asks, cocking an eyebrow.

‘I don’t believe in that shit, really. I want your opinion. You are going to pay for it and you have to look at it the entire day and still be happy that you are going to marry me. Come on, John, it would mean the world to me.’

He smiles. ‘Well, if it means the world to you, then I’ll have to go.’

John parks the car, opens my door and helps me to get out. He pushes the passengers seat to the front and lets the dogs out. He holds their leashes, before intertwining his fingers through mine as we walk to the cafe. I can’t help but notice that John has been happy the entire morning and I think it has something to do with Aurelio’s visit in a couple of hours. I’m pretty excited for John to finally have someone he knows from his older life back. I mean, I met Winston and he was pretty nice, but I also know a few things about the Continental now. I still don’t know enough about Aurelio, however I can imagine him being involved in John’s life a little more.

The cafe fills itself with people when we open up.

It’s exactly ten o’ clock and Aurelio steps inside the cafe. ‘Oh my God,’ Raye says, clearing her throat, ‘hottie alert, hottie alert.’

I haven’t told her about Aurelio’s visit yet. Just that yesterday John and I fucking bought a house of forty million dollars and an old acquaintance wasn’t important enough.

He holds up his hand when he sees John, and walks to the counter. ‘Hi Darcie,’ he says when he stands in front of me, causing Raye to nearly collapse. I can sense that she is ready to bombard me with questions, but somehow can keep it to herself, while she turns around to clean up something.

‘I’m so happy that you are here,’ I say to Aurelio. ‘Don’t tell John that I told you this, but he has been looking forward to this.’

The man across from me can’t help but laugh. ‘Well, me too. I always admired John,’ he says. ‘And I like the looks from your cafe.’

I can’t help but beam with happiness. ‘Thank you, Aurelio, that’s so sweet. Do you know what you want to order yet?’

‘A chai latte and something sweet. Doesn’t really matter what, I love everything.’

Aurelio wants to grab his wallet, but I shake my head. ‘No, this is on the house,’ I quickly tell him. ‘Really. I’m just happy that I get to meet you. It’s nice to get to know someone from John’s older life.’

He smiles. ‘That’s very sweet of you, Darcie. Thanks.’

He walks off to John’s table and sits right next to Oreo, who already likes him a lot by the looks of it.

‘Okay, who is that and why do you know him?’

I can’t help but laugh, when I look at Raye. ‘His name is Aurelio and he is an old friend of John,’ I say. ‘Before John went… To help me and my parents,’—there is a cute family right next to us, who can possibly overhear us—‘he went to Aurelio’s place for some stuff.’

‘He is hot.’ Raye looks over her shoulder to stare at him. ‘I’d do him.’

‘You say that about at least one customer every day,’ I help her remind. ‘What makes him so special?’

‘Everything.’

I prepare Aurelio’s chai latte and say: ‘I’ll bring this to him right now. You think about the snacks you can bring. I think there is something cooling down in the kitchen.’

‘You are a true angel.’

‘Well, before I got together with John, you were pretty amazing too, considering our slow ass flirting process. This is my way to thank you.’

‘I love you, Darcie.’

I walk up to John’s table and place the glass on the surface. ‘Here is your chai latte. The snacks will be here shortly,’ I say to the men.

John snakes his arm around my hips and pulls me closer.

‘I was just telling John that he is a lucky man,’ Aurelio says. ‘The fact that he is living his dream life now… We talked about that back in the day.’

‘Really?’ I ask, wrapping an arm around John’s broad shoulders.

‘Mhm. I mean, the man got out twice and from the looks of it, this is definitely the last time.’

John can’t help but laugh. ‘Well, if I have to, I’d do it all over again for her,’ John says, causing me to blush. ‘Still can’t believe I get to marry you soon.’

‘Some of my men walked by the other day,’ Aurelio says, ‘and they saw the two of you. They said that you were really in love with her. They knew because you couldn’t stop looking at here.’

Now it’s John’s turn to blush and I chuckle. ‘That’s too cute.’

‘Well,’ John says, ‘she is just too enchanting. I can’t help but to look at her.’

Aurelio takes a sip of his drink and says: ‘This is good, no wonder lots of people rave about this cafe.’

‘Stop it,’ I say, placing my hands on my cheeks so he can’t see them become even redder. ‘I’m so sorry, but I have to get back to work. Raye will bring you the snacks in a few.’ I press a kiss on John’s temple and walk to the counter.

The door opens and I hear Roger announce: ‘Miss Angel, we are here again!’

Roger and Greg walk up to the counter, causing me to check my wrist watch. ‘What are you two doing here? If you are skipping school, I swear to God, you guys. This is your senior year, very important.’

‘No, no, no,’ Greg quickly says, ‘not skipping school. We had a free period and wanted to ask you something anyway, so we decided that we could combine it.’

‘Okay, what is it?’

‘Well, on Valentines Day,’ Roger says, ‘we wanted to go on a double date. Greg, Tina, Ellie and I, but we wanted to go here, since this is really our place.’

‘Valentines Day is next week,’ I tell them. ‘You honestly think that you can just come here and expect a free seat?’

For a second they are scared, but then I start to laugh. ‘Gotcha, of course you can come over here. I would love for you guys to go on a double date here. That is so sweet. And since I’m the best anyways, I can arrange for you guys to sit at John’s table, so you are certain that you have a spot.’

‘Really? Well, if we sit there,’ Roger says, ‘maybe we’ll be forever together. I mean, you two are getting married.’

I really don’t want to smile like I’m insane, but I can’t stop myself. ‘Maybe, but aren’t you a little too young though, to think that far ahead in the future?’

‘No,’ Roger says. ‘I know that I want to marry Ellie when we’re older.’

‘Does she know that?’

‘Not yet, might scare her off, you know.’

I turn my attention to the other boy. ‘How about you, Greg?’

‘I love Tina with all my heart, but thinking about marriage already… That’s scary.’

I start to laugh. ‘That’s my boy. Let me guess, two hot chocolates with extra whipped cream and some chocolates?’

‘You know us, miss Angel.’ Roger pays for their order and they sit at the table near John. They politely introduce themselves to Aurelio, but I can see on their faces that they are a little disappointed that John has company.

While I prepare their order, I can see that Raye is staring at John’s table, already some still warm cake on a plate, but not moving. ‘It’s not that hard, Raye,’ I say. ‘You flirt with everyone here all the time. You have to hold yourself in to not flirt with my fiancé. What’s so special about this one?’

‘This one is totally different than every other guy.’

‘Well,’ I say, ‘while you are trying to gain your courage, I’ll bring this to the boys and sit with John and Aurelio for a while. It’s pretty calm around here. When you arrive, maybe me sitting there already makes it a little less nerve wrecking. I still don’t understand why you gain confidence when I’m this close, but I’m your friend and went with you to college parties and weirdly enough you needed me this close to flirt properly.’

‘You are the best.’

‘I know.’

I walk to Greg and Roger, give them their order and plop next to John on the chair. Without stopping the conversation, he puts his arm around my shoulder. ‘Well,’ I hear Aurelio say, ‘slowly, but surely I want to make sure that if I get a wife and a family one day, I’m able to separate to chop shop from the Continental. I mean, I still work with them, but I have different customers now.’

‘Totally understandable,’ John says.

‘Darcie, tell me this: how did you get John Wick to soften up this much? I mean, I’ve always wanted deep meaningful heart to heart talks with him, but it was impossible with this guy.’

‘I put him on a daily diet of cappuccino’s and chocolate brownies,’ I tell Aurelio. ‘Soon enough you have a deep conversation.’

‘I said it a few times to John already, but he is such a lucky guy to have found someone like you.’

‘Have you found someone yet?’ I ask him. If he says yes and he is happily in a relationship, I can still sign to Raye that she doesn’t need to be creative.

He shakes his head (thankfully). ‘Unfortunately. Dating while owning a chop shop isn’t as easy as it may look like.’

‘Mhm, well you are a good looking guy. I bet there are ton of ladies who would drop anything for you.’

I can’t believe I made a grown man blush and giggle like that.

‘She’s a keeper, John,’ Aurelio says, taking another sip of his chai latte. ‘A real keeper.’

I know John is going to agree, but before he can voice his thoughts, Raye has finally found the courage to walk up to our table. ‘Mister Mustang,’ she says in a stern voice, ‘I wasn’t aware you had hot friends and I’m very disappointed that you didn’t even feel the urge to tell me about that.’

I knew Raye was creative when it comes to pick up lines. I went out with her multiple times and she amazes me every single time, but this… I feel like this one is on top of her impressive list of pick up lines. I look at John, who nods with approval and when I glance at Aurelio, he seems amazed.

‘Since John is useless,’ she continues, ‘I’ll just have to introduce myself then. Hi, my name is Raye.’

‘Aurelio,’ he says, taking her hand in his. ‘Nice to meet you, Raye. Had I known that Darcie had such a beautiful friend working in her cafe, I would’ve visited this place a lot earlier.’

‘John,’ I quickly say, ‘I just remembered something, you promised Roger and Greg you were going to talk to them about something.’

He senses my underlying message and we get up. John gives me a quick kiss on my temple, before he whispers: ‘You are an amazing friend.’ He sits next to Roger and the conversation between them picks up right away.

Raye winks at me and I whisper: ‘Don’t you worry about the customers. I got your back.’

When I walk back to the counter, I can’t help but stare at Raye and Aurelio, who seem to hit it off immediately.

Maybe she’ll have a date to the wedding.


	6. Chapter 6

When John got married to Helen, she wore a lovely white gown, very simple, but very classy. He always thought that she was going to be his one and only bride.

But now he looks at his fiancée Darcie, who is already talking to Raye and Jennie on the phone, while she is packing her bag with pictures of the bridal gowns that she thinks are a good fit for her. He heard something about a mermaid cut, but he doesn’t know enough about it to know exactly what that means.

‘No,’ he hears Darcie say, ‘that doesn’t mean bad luck. I don’t even believe in that sort of crap. Remember one day at school, when it was Friday the 13th, and everyone was being so superstitious and I walked underneath a ladder to pet a black cat and somehow I survived? I mean, it’s bullshit anyway. So yeah, John is going to be there.’ She looks over her shoulder, to send him a beautiful smile. ‘I feel like he should have a say in this. Well, Raye, I know that you don’t agree, but when you marry Aurelio, you can do it exactly the way you want. I mean, weren’t you fantasizing about a first date with him? And you know everything starts with a first date.’ She starts to laugh and John falls in love with her a little more. ‘Okay, girls, I’ll see you there. Love you, bye.’

Darcie hangs up the phone and crouches down to give Tiki a kiss. ‘Mommy is going to try on some dresses and I wish I could take you with me, but you and clothes are not the greatest combination.’ Darcie looks up at John and says: ‘Learned that the hard way.’

John walks up to her and holds out his hands for her to take. When she’s standing up, he leans down to give her a kiss on her lips. ‘I have a confession to make.’

Darcie starts to laugh. ‘I know: you are nervous.’

John is slightly taken aback from that. How does she know?

‘You are going to be my husband and finally, after not even two years together, I can distinguish your facial expressions. Took me awhile, but I’m getting there.’ She chuckles. ‘You don’t want to come with me today? That’s totally okay, I mean, I’m not going to force you.’

John exhales deeply. When he proposed to Darcie, he wanted to spend all of his time with her, being able to call her his wife… That’s a dream for him, but when she is going to wear a wedding dress, it’ll be more real. ‘It’s nothing, sweetheart.’

‘Oh no,’ she says. ‘There is something on your mind and I can’t handle the thought of you brooding on something and not letting me in. Come on, honey, tell me about it.’ She sits on the table, so she’s about the same height as he is and pulls him between her legs, hooking them together behind him. ‘I’m not letting you go until you tell me.’

John lets out a small laugh. ‘Cutie,’ he whispers, kissing her forehead. ‘I just thought about Helen and our wedding day.’

She nods. ‘Right. I bet she looked beautiful on your wedding day.’

‘She did,’ he admits. He places his forehead against hers and sighs deeply. ‘When Helen and I got married, I thought that was it. That day I looked at her in her wedding dress, I thought that was the beginning of my new life. My new future. Then she passed away and years later… I met you. I just thought about us as a couple and when I proposed I thought of us as an engaged couple.’

John can’t seem to find the right words, but somehow Darcie can. ‘And you thought that poof, one day, you and I were married and then poof, we had kids and we’d be a settled couple. But the wedding itself… That scares you a bit, am I right?’

John sighs. ‘Yeah, a bit.’

‘Don’t you want a big wedding? And please be honest with me.’

‘No, I want a big wedding,’ he says, ‘because I want to show everyone that we want to invite how much I love you. I think I was just a little bit nervous, I guess.’

‘Understandably so,’ she laughs. ‘I mean, I’m nervous too.’

‘You are?’

‘Yeah. I mean, you are the most handsome man I’ve ever met, the most thoughtful man, the kindest. The fact that after our wedding I get to call you my husband… I can’t comprehend it sometimes. Besides, sometimes I wonder when you are going to be sick of me.’

‘Never,’ he whispers. ‘Never ever ever am I going to be sick of you.’

‘Sure?’

‘Sure.’ He glances at the clock. ‘When are we leaving?’

‘In two hours,’ she says, ‘but I have to get ready, because after the appointment, we have to go to work right away.’ Darcie raises her eyebrows. ‘Why?’

‘Just wanted to show you how not sick of you I am,’ John whispers against her neck.

‘John,’ she whines. ‘Really?’

‘Please,’ he begs, before pressing sloppy kisses on her sensitive skin in the nape of her neck.

She pushes his shirt up, her nails digging in his back. ‘Well,’ she says, ‘just make it quick.’

⟢⟡⟣

Even after a long shower, a breakfast and the drive to the store, her cheeks are just as flushed as they were right after they were done. The fact that he is going to be fifty three in a matter of months and he still manages to wear her out like this, he can’t help but beam with pride. He shouldn’t think too much about Darcie quivering underneath him, strangled sobs leaving her lips, because he knows that Raye will notice and if she knows, she’ll not be subtle about it.

_He knows._

Darcie mindlessly splays with his fingers. ‘You are still smiling,’ she mentions.

‘We had fun and I’m still enjoying it,’ John laughs. ‘Besides, you’re still blushing.’

Darcie snorts. ‘I hope the blush fades,’ she says. ‘I know that Raye will notice and know exactly what happened to me. If she were a normal friend, I could just mention Aurelio’s name and she’d be embarrassed. Not her. She’ll just give you the details of her dirty dreams about him. I mean, I’m really happy that they swapped numbers, but her work is already lacking. The man barely left and she was glued to her phone.’

John smiles. ‘Can you imagine,’ he starts, ‘that those two start dating and we can go out on double dates?’

‘You want to go on double dates?’ she asks. ‘Really?’

‘Really,’ he confirms. ‘How is Jennie doing by the way? You told her about the apartment yet?’

‘No, not yet. She seems okay, a little silent, so please keep an eye on her during the appointment, okay? I’m really worried.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know, she looks constantly tired, but when I ask her how she is, she just shrugs and continues. I know my best friend and I know something is bothering her, but I can’t seem to figure out what exactly and that is so frustrating.’

‘When were you planning on telling her about the apartment?’

‘I think tonight, after the cafe closed. Will you be there when I tell her?’

‘Of course.’ John smiles at her. The fact that Darcie wants to give her the apartment, without Jennie having to pay for it, makes his heart swell. Though she keeps scolding him for buying her things too extravagant, she somehow manages to accept the fact that he is rich and she can spend _their_ money.

They arrive at the store, only to see her parents there already. John grows nervous, wiping his hands on his jeans.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asks.

‘Just… Nothing.’

John really wants to tell her, he does, but somehow he can’t. He already shared too much this morning. He isn’t afraid of marrying her, he is just afraid that it will not last, because she’ll be taken away from him sooner or later.

He knows it’s stupid, he knows that he got a second chance and he will enjoy every moment of it, but he can’t help but to be pessimistic. How many times had the future disappointed him already?

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, baby, let’s have fun, okay?’ He leans over to peck her lips and he whispers: ‘Don’t worry, your blush is already fading.’

John gets out of the car and opens the door of the passengers side, holding out his hand for the future bride, who keeps on getting more beautiful every second. He holds her hand tightly in his, while they walk to her parents.

‘John,’ Christian says, ‘I still love your car.’

‘Well,’ Darcie butts in, wrapping her arms around her mother, ‘if you didn’t work so much, you’d be able to drive in it.’

‘Munchkin, munchkin,’ her dad laughs, as he holds her tightly when he pulls her into a hug.

It’s obvious that these two love their daughter very much, but Darcie once confided to John that sometimes it was hard for her to be by herself around the house that much. They both worked a lot, leaving Darcie on her own and that’s one thing that John absolutely doesn’t want for their kids.

He wants to be there for them and wants them to feel safe enough to share their problems with him, just like Greg and Roger keep confessing their insecurities about their relationships to John. Though John isn’t really the most experienced man on that topic, he does know quite a few tricks that work on Darcie and since those guys chose girls that are quite like her, it’s easy for him to help them out. He loves it to help them out. There are things that they share with him and not their parents, like their college applications and all. If he enjoys it this much already with someone else’s kids, imagine how much he would love it for his own kids.

The idea of missing out on all that…

‘John, are you alright?’ Somi asks, placing her hand on his arm. Her cast is removed, but it’s still bandaged. It was quite a nasty fracture, but the healing process is going swiftly. ‘You look… Tired.’

‘Couldn’t sleep tonight, that’s all,’ he says, though it’s a lie. He is tired. He is tired of his mind that keeps on running and running and running, constantly going back to the negative parts of life. His past. His future without Darcie.

It’s driving him crazy. Every now and then he can forget about his worries, but it’s there. Constantly there.

‘Mister and Mrs. Mustang!’ Raye yells from across the street and both her and Jennie are waiting for the traffic lights to go green.

‘Mom,’ John hears Darcie say, ‘we’ve been thinking about giving Jennie the apartment, since John and I bought a house.’

‘Yes, we saw the pictures of the house. Congratulations, sweetheart. I know for a fact that you two are going to be so happy living there.’ Somi pinches Darcie in her cheek. It seems to take a few extra seconds before she says: ‘You’re going to give Jennie the apartment?’

‘Yeah, you know how she is struggling and I figured that it would be good for her to have her own place.’

‘Munchkin,’ her father says, ‘you are a true sweetheart.’

The six of them walk into the bridal store, where a female consultant is already waiting for them. She shows the five guests where they can sit, before she takes Darcie with her for a brief consultation. Darcie is nearly skipping when they walk into the long hallway.

‘I can’t wait for her to come out,’ Raye says. ‘I hope she goes for something really sexy.’

‘It’s almost insulting how little you know about our friend,’ Jennie mumbles, who is sitting next to John.

While Raye keeps on chatting about dresses with Christian and Somi, John observes Jennie for a while, noticing her staring at the floor. ‘What’s wrong, Jennie?’ he quietly asks, so the rest can’t hear them.

She looks up. ‘Nothing.’

He cocks an eyebrow, causing Jennie to sigh deeply. ‘You don’t have to talk about it now,’ he quickly adds, ‘but please know that we are there for you.’

Jennie clears her throat and says: ‘Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.’ For a brief second she looks him in the eyes and he detects only sadness and a lot of pain. ‘Darcie has been worried, hasn’t she?’

John nods. ‘Me too.’

‘It’s nothing I can’t handle.’ Jennie pats his leg and says: ‘She doesn’t have to worry. I know she does and it makes her such a great friend, but it’s not necessary.’

He wants to ask her something else, but he hears Raye squeal out of excitement and when he looks up, he sees his fiancée in a long white dress, that hugs her figure in all the right places. The neckline is pretty deep and from the look on her face, she hates it. She has her hand placed over her cleavage and the red blush is back on her cheeks. ‘Raye, I didn’t know you called the store and asked them specifically to put aside this dress so I had to put this on.’

‘Well, you look smokin’ hot, don’t you think, mister Mustang?’

John really has a lot to say about this dress (for starters how good Darcie’s ass looks in it), but his parents-in-law are here and he doesn’t want to embarrass her and he doesn’t want her parents to think any less of him. ‘You don’t look comfortable in the dress,’ he says, ‘and you have to wear the dress the entire day, so I’d rather you look comfortable.’

Darcie smiles at him. ‘This is why I wanted him here,’ she tells Raye. ‘I still can’t believe you went behind my back like that.’

‘I’m your friend,’ Raye says, ‘I’m supposed to do that.

⟢⟡⟣

Darcie already fitted three other dresses, but none of those were perfect. Sure, she looked gorgeous in every single one of them, but they didn’t look like _the_ dress for her. John can’t sit for much longer on the uncomfortable couch, but the saleswoman said that she only had one dress left and if that isn’t the one, they can come back next Sunday.

‘Oh my God,’ Raye squeaks and he looks up from the mannequin he was mindlessly staring at. His breath gets caught in his throat.

Darcie looks like a Greek goddess. The dress is a tight fit until her waist and flows until it reaches the floor. He knew that she didn’t want to wear a strapless dress and the thin straps are covered in the same fabric as the bottom of her dress.

She stands on the pedestal and looks in the mirror. Through the reflection, he sees she’s emotional. ‘Oh my God,’ he hears Jennie mutter beside him.

Darcie turns around and has a smile on her face. ‘Dad, are you crying?’

As if they are one person, they all look at Christian, who as tears in his eyes. ‘No,’ he says, but his voice crack tells them otherwise.

Somi grabs some tissues and adds: ‘Good thing I’m not going to work today, because I would probably look like a puffy mess the entire day. Sweetheart, you look beautiful. Like a true bride.’

‘You think this is the dress?’ Raye asks. ‘Because I so desperately want to ask that particular question.’

‘You selfish bitch,’ Jennie laughs.

‘Well,’ Darcie says, ‘I love the dress.’ She carefully looks at John. ‘What do you think?’ she asks. ‘I mean, you have to marry me, so you better love this dress as well.’

‘You’re already wearing a suit, mister Mustang,’ Raye says. ‘Go stand next to her, so we get an idea.’

John pushes himself off the couch and stands in front of her. ‘God, you are so beautiful,’ he whispers. ‘I was already planning on marrying you, but if you look like this…’

‘So I take it you like it,’ she says.

‘I love it.’ He gives her a kiss and they look in the mirror. He wraps his arm around her waist and says: ‘We look like we could get married right away.’

‘We certainly do.’

‘Can I ask the damn question?’ Raye intervenes in their little moment together.

John chuckles and Darcie says, after she rolled her eyes: ‘Sure.’

‘Are you saying yes to this dress?’

John looks to the side and watches his fiancée as she says: ‘I’m saying yes to this dress.’

⟢⟡⟣

John can tell by the way Darcie is fidgeting, she is nervous. She does want to tell Jennie about the apartment, but somehow can’t seem to find the right words nor the right time to tell her about it. John can’t really look at it any longer, because honestly, he desperately wants to tell Jennie about it. He wanted to tell her about it in the bridal store already, but he knew Darcie wanted to be there.

‘Jennie,’ he says, ‘Darcie and I want to tell you something.’

His fiancée looks at him like she is ready to skin him alive, but when he simply cocks an eyebrow, she realizes she can’t procrastinate any longer.

‘You’re pregnant,’ Raye guesses.

‘Oh my God, no, I’m not pregnant.’ Darcie crosses her arms in front of her chest, as she looks at her blonde friend. ‘Why would we only tell Jennie about that anyways?’

‘Fair point, sorry. Please continue.’

‘What do you want to tell me?’ Jennie says, leaning against the table.

‘Well,’ Darcie starts, ‘you know how we bought a house right?’

Jennie nods. ‘Yes, it’s absolutely beautiful. John showed us some more pictures when you were trying on the dresses back in the fitting room. Raye wants to swim in your indoor pool, but you know how she is.’

‘Raye Clarke, you cannot skinny dip in our indoor pool,’ Darcie warns Raye.

Sometimes John is impressed by the way Darcie and her friends know one another. Darcie can warn Raye before she can share what’s on her mind. Jennie knows how Darcie will react to something, before it even happened. Raye has some sort of antennas when it comes to certain things that happened (for example when they had a sex right before work the other day).

‘However,’ Darcie continues, ‘since we are moving out of our apartment around my birthday… We decided that…’

John wraps an arm around Darcie’s shoulders and finishes her sentence by saying: ‘We want you to move into the apartment.’

‘What?’ Jennie asks, while Raye starts to jump in excitement, screaming: ‘Oh my God, that is so fucking awesome!’

‘We heard about how you were struggling and you always said how much you loved the apartment. Since we’re moving into the other house soon, we figured you might want that place,’ Darcie says. ‘We’ll help you move and all, so don’t you worry about that.’

Jennie has tears in her eyes. ‘No,’ she says, ‘you guys, I can’t accept that.’

Darcie walks to her friend, to pull her into a tight hug. ‘Yes, you can,’ she whispers. ‘You deserve a nice place.’

‘It’s too much.’

‘It’s not.’ Darcie gives Jennie a kiss on her cheek. ‘Please, Jen, you have to accept it. I don’t want to see you struggle like this.’

Raye wraps her arms around Darcie and Jennie. ‘You are the sweetest and kindest person in the world,’ she adds. ‘You do so much for other people, you deserve this.’

‘You sure it’s not too much?’ Jennie asks.

‘No,’ John butts in. ‘Really, we want you to live in that apartment.’

Jennie wiggles herself out of Darcie and Raye’s embrace and hugs John tightly. ‘Thank you,’ she whispers. ‘Thank you so much, John.’

John smiles, as he wraps his arms around her shoulders. ‘Of course, Jennie. Everything for friends.’


	7. Chapter 7

It’s Valentines Day and I have been up since three. Not because I’m nervous, not because I’m scared of what can happen this day, but more because I’m really hot and bothered. Last year when it was Valentines Day, John was super romantic and took me out on the most fantastic date of all time, very fancy, very chic. Afterwards, he drove us back to the apartment and we spend the entire night making love.

This is will be a little different, since we’re going on a double date. Raye and Aurelio are going out for the first time, but Raye wants us there, since I have a history with her and John has one with Aurelio.

I mean, I want to go out with them, I really do, but I need John and I kind of need him now.

John wraps his arm around my waist as he places his head on my chest. ‘Why are you awake, sweetheart?’ he asks in a groggy voice.

Sometimes I wonder if that man ever sleeps, because when I’m awake in the middle of the night, he is already awake or wakes up within a few minutes. I always feel slightly guilty, but he insists that it’s okay and if I’m ever awake again, I should just wake him up.

I have yet to do it, but maybe one day, when I’m desperate enough.

‘Can’t seem to fall asleep anymore.’

‘Right,’ he whispers, placing a kiss on my neck.

I could just ask him for sex and knowing John, he’ll rip off both of our pajamas instantly. Still I have issues with initiating, though it’s going better and I do take more initiative.

‘Tell me what’s on your mind, baby,’ he whispers.

‘Can,’—part of me already regrets this, but I’m really horny and I desperately need him, or I’ll lose my mind—‘can we have sex?’

John turns around, so he can switch on the light on his side of the bed. He looks at me a little better. ‘Did you just ask me for sex?’ He seems amused, with his raised eyebrow and the smirk on his face.

‘I did,’ I admit. I hate that I’m going to marry this man, but I still blush like crazy around him. ‘You know what, forget it.’

‘No, no, no,’ John says, placing his hand in the dip of my waist, leaning over to kiss me on my lips. ‘How badly do you want it, sweetheart?’

‘Really badly.’

‘Well,’ he says with a smirk, ‘whatever my fiancée wants, whatever my fiancée gets.’ His hand travels down, past the waistband of my pajamas.

I have little to no patience, because I pull apart from him and get undressed in no time. I tug on his shirt and accompanied with a chuckle, John’s sheds himself from his shirt and boxers. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this,’ he notes.

I wrap my fingers around his semi hard shaft, my thumb toying around his tip, causing him to hiss. ‘You don’t like it?’ I ask, already feeling a bit turned down.

John scoffs. ‘I fucking love it, baby.’ His fingers are tangled through my hair and he pulls me against his lips, his tongue exploring my mouth. I feel his wet kisses travel down from my lips, to my jaw to my neck. He lets his tongue swirl around my sensitive nipple and I bite my lip to prevent myself from waking up the entire building.

He pushes me on my back, his kisses traveling down even more. He spreads my legs. ‘God, so wet already, baby,’ he says, pressing a kiss on my inner thigh.

John wraps his arms around my upper legs, pushing down my hips so I can’t buck them up. He lets his tongue slide between my folds. If I wasn’t this horny right now, I’d be embarrassed about how wet I sound. I bring my hands to his hair and tug his longish locks, pulling him even closer to my aching center. ‘John, please, I need you,’ I groan out and he looks up, causing me to whine. ‘Come on.’

John pushes himself up and leans over to kiss me, his beard covered in my juices. I taste myself on his wet lips. ‘Never knew you could be this needy,’ he tells me, his calloused hand placed on the side of my face.

‘I need you now, John, don’t tease.’

He smiles and leans over to my nightstand, to grab a condom, but before he can open the package, I place my hand on his. ‘Don’t,’ I say to him.

John’s eyes widen as he visibly gulps. ‘Don’t?’ he repeats.

‘Mhm.’ I pull the package from his fingers and let it drop the floor. ‘The reason I always wanted to have sex with both a condom and me being on birth control, was because I really didn’t want to get pregnant, but right now… I feel like we can be a little less uptight about it and with we, I actually mean me.’

‘Are you sure? Because I don’t want you to regret this.’

‘I won’t regret this,’ I tell him. ‘I want you to eventually become the father of our kids. Besides, I’m still on birth control and stay on that for awhile. The chances that I get pregnant now are very very minimal.’

He slams his lips against mine, his kiss a lot more passionate than the previous ones. ‘God, baby, I can’t believe this is truly happening.’

I smile, as I reach between us and bring his hard cock to my entrance.

‘I might not last long,’ he admits.

‘I don’t care,’ I whisper. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too, baby.’ He slowly sinks inside of me, while he holds my hands tightly in his and keeps them above my head. He grunts as he is balls deep inside of me. I never get used to how big he is, how much he stretches me out, but adding the feeling of him without the condom, feeling every vein on his shaft…

‘Are you okay?’ he whispers, as a whimper leaves my lips.

‘I am.’

His thrusts start slow, like usual, but I can’t stand it anymore. ‘Faster, John,’ I encourage him. ‘Please.’

John pulls out, before he slams back inside of me. He is never this rough, he is always making sure I’m okay, that I’m not in pain. But this is the John I know that is deep down there. Like usual he is in charge, but right now his thrusts are hard and rough. He pins me down to the bed, making sure I can’t escape. His hairs are falling in front of his eyes.

I bite my lip to prevent me from moaning, but right now, I can’t keep quiet anymore. Every time he slams back inside of me, a strangled cry leaves my lips.

My walls start to clench around him. ‘John…’

‘I know, sweetheart, you’re close. I’m close too.’

I wrap my legs tightly around his hips, as I start to quiver underneath his broad body, my toes curling in the process. He buries his face in my neck, while I buck up my hips to meet his thrusts. His rough and steady thrusts turn sloppy, as he spurts his thick creamy cum deep inside me. His lips fall on mine, as his grip on my hands starts to falter.

He places his head on the valley of my breasts, as he tries to regulate his breathing. ‘Are you okay?’ I chuckle, wrapping my arms around him.

‘That was fucking hot,’ he says against my skin. ‘You know that we’re going to have sex every second we possibly can, right?’

I can’t help but laugh a little louder. ‘I’d figured.’

John looks up. ‘So, you’re absolutely sure you want to have sex without a condom nowadays?’

I nod. ‘Yes, I do.’

‘If you don’t mind me asking: when are you going to stop taking the pill? Or have you not given it a thought yet? I mean, I don’t want to rush you.’

I shake my head. ‘No, no… I thought about it. I think I just want to enjoy married life with you a little bit more, but maybe around Christmas or New Years, I can stop to take the pill. Usually people don’t get pregnant right away, so I probably won’t conceive right there and then, but maybe somewhere next year, you and I might be expecting.’

_Are those tears in his eyes?_

‘John, baby, are you okay? Is the idea of me being pregnant that terrible that it makes you cry?’

‘No, sweetheart,’ he quickly says, his voice cracking. ‘I just can’t believe this is truly happening. We’ve talked about it, sure, but I kept thinking that maybe you’d change your mind about me and that you didn’t want this kind of future with me. But now we are having sex without a condom and you’ve been thinking about when you’re going to stop to take the pill, so we can get pregnant. I realize that I’m getting myself a family that I always wanted.’

Now I have to cry too. ‘That’s too sweet,’ I manage to choke out. ‘God, I love you.’

‘I love you too, Darcie.’ He gives me a kiss and carefully pulls out of me. He tells me to stay put and I hear him warming a washing cloth. He walks back in and spreads my legs. He licks his bottom lip, clearly admiring his work, causing me to laugh. Like John is snapped back into reality, because he quickly cleans up between my legs and gets back into bed, engulfing me in a tight hug. ‘Have you been thinking about names?’ he asks.

‘Still thinking about Livia Wick,’ I admit.

He nods. ‘You know, I always wondered: do you have a middle name?’

I turn on my stomach and place my chin on his chest, so I can look at him. ‘I do, actually. It’s Ryujin.’

‘That’s Korean right?’

‘Yes, it is. Though here in the US it’s my middle name, I usually use that name when I’m in Korea. When my grandmother had friends over, I actually introduced myself as Moon Ryujin.’

‘I never knew that,’ he says with a smile. ‘Do you want to give our kids a Korean name?’

I shrug. ‘I don’t know. It’s just that I feel so American. There is always a part of me that wants to reconnect a bit more with my roots, but… I don’t know. What about you? You want to give your official name to our kids?’

‘Official name?’ John asks.

‘Your official name is Jonathan, right?’

He clears his throat. ‘Well, I legally changed it to Jonathan Wick.’

‘Oh,’ I say. I know about his past as an orphan, but never what his real name was. I thought that Jonathan was his real name and he never stated otherwise.

‘The reason I never told you, is because I don’t want to be reminded of that part of my life.’

‘I understand,’ I tell him and I do. I know that talking about his past is difficult for him, hence the reason I never ask, since I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable. ‘But do you want to tell me your real name?’

He nods. ‘Jardani Jovonovich.’

‘And if I understand correctly, you don’t want to pass that name onto our kids? Or something in that direction?’

John shakes his head. ‘No, absolutely not,’ he clarifies. ‘I don’t want to be reminded of that time. Ever.’

‘I get it,’ I say. I place a kiss on his chest and decide to put this subject to the side. ‘So if we have a daughter, we’re calling her Livia Wick?’

Thankfully he smiles again and the worried and pained look in his eyes almost disappears. ‘And a middle name, if we can think about one.’

‘Maybe,’ I say, ‘we can give her Angel as a middle name. Though it’s my last name, I think it fits. Livia Angel Wick.’

He nods. ‘That sounds like music to my ears,’ he says. He places his large hand in the small of my back. ‘And if we have a son?’

‘I always wanted to call my son something along the lines of Samuel or Lucas.’

‘I like Samuel,’ John says. ‘Samuel Wick, sounds good.’

‘You want to give him Jonathan as their middle name? Samuel Jonathan Wick?’

‘Maybe.’

‘Would you mind if we, for example, only had daughters or only had sons?’

He shakes his head. ‘I just want kids with you,’ he says. ‘Doesn’t matter to me. I’d love them with all my heart. You?’

‘Well,’ I say, ‘I can see you as a dad of both. As a dad with sons, who would run around in the yard and be total idiots together. But I can also see you as a dad who joins the tea parties of his daughters.’

John smiles. ‘I’d love every second of it.’

‘Are you planning on telling them about your past?’

I can see in his eyes that this question hurts him. I already open my mouth to say that he doesn’t need to answer it, but he simply shakes his head. ‘I need to think about those things,’ he tells me, ‘and it’s better to do that when you’re not pregnant yet, because as soon as you are expecting, I’m going to think about the fastest route to the hospital for when you go into labor.’

The corners of my mouth curl up in a small smile. He is such a sweetheart.

John thinks about it and then says: ‘No, I’m not going to tell them. I never wanted to tell you about it and our kids shouldn’t know about it either.’

I nod. ‘Are you going to teach them how to fight?’

John shrugs. ‘I mean, self defense is always good. But I don’t know if I want to teach them myself.’

‘Right,’ I say and I decide from his facial expressions, I shouldn’t continue to pry. ‘Don’t you worry about a thing. You’re going to be an excellent father. If there is someone who needs to doubt their parental skills, it’s definitely going to be me.’

John frowns. ‘And why on earth do you think that?’

‘You have the qualities of a great parent. You stay calm in any situation, you love with all your heart and clearly you have more life experience than me. I’m easily panicked, indecisive and flabbergasted like that. I bet I’m going to be that overprotective mother that teachers are going to hate. I mean, I’m constantly worried about Tiki and Oreo already.’

‘Are you serious?’ John asks, his eyebrows raised. ‘You are kidding right?’

‘No, John, I’m actually serious.’

‘Sweetheart,’ he sighs, ‘you are going to be a fantastic mother. You have more patience than anyone I’ve ever known, you are the kindest woman and you too love with all your heart. The little kids who visit your cafe, already want to hug you, even if they barely know you and don’t get me started on how you are with teenagers. You are such a great influence on people. Darcie, you’re going to be a great mother and remember: all parents make mistakes, so we’ll make them too.’

‘That was sweet,’ I admit, causing him to chuckle. ‘You really think that?’

‘Of course I mean that and I promise you, I’m going to be there every step of the way with you. We are in this together, remember that.’

‘Oh my God,’ I say, ‘I’m a nightmare on my period already, imagine if I’m pregnant.’

‘Well, have I handled a period situation other than amazing?’ he jokingly asks. I slap him across his chest. ‘You know, we’re going to be the Wick family.’

How have I not realized that? ‘I’m the luckiest woman on earth.’

‘I think I’m the luckiest man on earth,’ he says. ‘I can’t believe on Valentines Day, we are talking about kids and I got to cum inside you.’

‘John… Do you need to say it like that?’

‘Of course,’ he laughs, ‘but only to you.’

I hide my face, but hearing him laugh, I can’t help but chuckle too. ‘I hate you, mister Wick,’ I tell him.

‘You don’t, you love me.’ He gives me a long kiss on my forehead and whispers: ‘Happy Valentines Day, sweetheart.’

⟢⟡⟣

I think it’s the sweetest thing that Aurelio and John are hanging out today. Aurelio and Raye have been non stop texting since they met, but their first date is on Valentines Day and she insisted on having me there. This morning, John received a text from Aurelio, asking him to go shop for something nice to wear tonight. I nearly threw John out of my cafe, because I desperately want him to hang out with a friend.

Since we’re short on kitchen staff again, Raye is helping out in the kitchen, while I keep an eye out on Tina, Ellie, Greg and Roger, who are sitting at John’s table. I already send him a picture of them. The guys have really gone out of their ways to look decent and the girls look absolutely beautiful. ‘To their happily ever after’ I typed with the picture, because I truly hope these kids will stay together forever. Maybe that’s a little too hopeful, but I can dream about it right?

When there are no customers at the counter and I’m cleaning up the tables a bit or doing the dishes, my mind keeps wandering off. I think about our wedding date (July 9th), about our venue (a nice outdoor wedding), but also about our talk this early morning. It’s all becoming real right now.

We’re going to have kids. We’re going to become parents.

I see that the chocolates are going fast at the table of the teenagers and I decide to give them a little more, since I’m in a loving mood and they are just the cutest. With a small plate filled with chocolates in different flavors, I walk up to their table and they all look up with a smile. ‘Hi, miss Angel,’ they say in unison.

‘Is everything going well? Do you feel the magic of sitting at John’s table already?’

‘Of course,’ Roger answers. ‘Where is mister Wick by the way? Is he mad that we’re sitting at his table?’

At first I think he is serious, but by the look in his eyes, Roger is dead serious. ‘No, he is out with a friend. The same guy who was here a few days ago.’

‘The one miss Clarke flirted with?’ Greg asks.

‘Mhm.’

‘Raye has her date tonight with him, right?’ Ellie asks.

I nod. ‘Double date, actually. She insisted on John and I joining. She’s working in the kitchen now, getting nervous for tonight.’

‘Miss Clarke is nervous?’ Tina chuckles. ‘Since when is she nervous?’

‘Since she really likes this guy,’ I say with a smile. ‘So, fingers crossed that tonight’ll go well. Wait, before I forget.’ I reach into the pocket of my apron and pull out four envelopes. I wrote their names on each of their envelopes. ‘If you want to invite your parents as well, please tell me or John, okay?’

‘The wedding invitations,’ Ellie squeals. ‘Oh my God, they are so beautiful. July 9th, that’s a Saturday!’

‘This is going to be so fantastic,’ Roger says. ‘I can’t wait.’

‘Glad you guys are excited. I’ll leave you guys to it. If there is anything, please tell me.’

‘Will do, miss Angel.’

⟢⟡⟣

Since Aurelio had to do something back at the chop shop real quick, Raye, John and I are already seated at the restaurant, where John made reservations for us. ‘I never thought I would’ve lived long enough to see Raye this nervous for a date.’

She looks over at me, nearly staring me to death. ‘Not funny.’

‘It’s just Aurelio,’ John adds, intertwining his fingers with mine on the table. ‘According to him, you’ve been talking non stop after he left the cafe and he told me that he really liked you.’

‘True,’ she says, ‘but I’m just really nervous. He is not like any other guy I’ve ever talked to. He has this certain air around him. Like… He is mature, you know?’

‘Maybe, we should have a sign, for when you want us gone,’ I suggest. ‘Or if you want to get the fuck out of here, because you don’t like him—’

‘I really like this guy,’ Raye interrupts me. ‘I want to stay. If I want you two gone, I’ll just say so.’

‘That’s true,’ I say to John. ‘Back in college, she was hanging out in my dorm room with some guy and she kicked me out of my own room, so she could have sex with him.’

‘You keep on surprising me, Raye, you know that?’ John says.

‘It’s a specialty of mine, mister Mustang.’ She holds up her wine glass, but then her eyes widen. ‘Oh my God, he is here. He looks so handsome. On scale of one to ten of how badly I need a new pair of panties, I think this is a level twenty situation.’

John looks to the side, sending me a confused look, before standing up to greet Aurelio. I stand up as well, look to Raye, who has a blush on her cheeks. _Oh God, she really likes him._ I give Aurelio a hug and watch how he holds Raye’s hands into his, who pulled herself together faster than I would’ve figured she would.

‘You look beautiful,’ Aurelio says to Raye, before he presses a kiss on her cheek.

I mean, it’s no lie. She does look exceptionally beautiful. Raye is wearing a lovely tight red dress, with long lace sleeves. She paired the dress with the Prada shoes John and I got her for Christmas. ‘Well, you look quite handsome yourself.’ It surprises me that she somehow kept the new pair of panties comment to herself.

Aurelio helps her to take a seat and sits right next to her. ‘Leave it up to John Wick to get us the best tables on Valentines Day,’ Aurelio laughs.

It feels weird to see John this friendly with someone else who has been part of his life outside me. It’s not that I’m jealous or anything, but I’m happy to see John slowly rebuilding his life, with parts from his past and parts from now. I can’t help to give him a squeeze in his hand, showing him non verbally how proud I am of him.

Time flies by. Raye shares tons of embarrassing stories, mainly about me, but that’s okay. She is clearly impressing Aurelio and if that means embarrassing me in the process, I’ll take it. John wants to marry me anyways, so I’m good.

‘One time, Jennie, Darcie and I went out back in college,’ Raye says, placing her utensils neatly on her plate, ‘and Jennie went home with someone, leaving me to hang out with Darcie. Miss Prude over there, was drinking like crazy, never saw her like that. This really handsome guy comes over and I blink with my eyes, to totally seeing her make out with him and she gives him a lap dance.’

‘Raye, enough,’ I say, but why aren’t I surprised that she doesn’t stop?

‘So for months her nickname was Miss Lap Dance, because the clip went viral and somehow someone recognized her from the footage.’

‘I never knew this,’ John says. ‘I thought you were such a well behaved lady in college.’

‘I was,’ I say, ‘but I made one slip up. Honest to God, this was the only time I did something like that.’

‘Not true,’ Raye says.

‘Not true?’ John and I say at the same time.

Aurelio leans back in his chair, while he has a smile on his face, watching Raye keep on tapping more stories about me. ‘Tell us about it,’ he even encourages her.

‘Eric once did certain things to you underneath the table when we had dinner.’

My eyes widen. ‘You knew?’

‘Of course I knew,’ she laughs. ‘The rest didn’t, but I notice everything.’

I hide my face in my hands. ‘Oh my God, this is terrible.’

This situation is terrible, but hearing John nearly choking in his laughter, is making this ten times worse.

‘Don’t you dare laugh,’ I tell him. ‘This is so embarrassing.’

‘Look, she’s blushing,’ Raye laughs.

Thankfully John pays for dinner and Raye decides to make her Valentines Day date last a bit longer, because she suggests that Aurelio drives her home. She hugs John and I smile as Aurelio gives me a kiss on my hand. ‘Thank you for inviting me to your cafe,’ he says. ‘I’m really happy.’

‘Well, I’m happy to give Raye to you,’ I say. ‘After being friends with her for nearly fifteen years, Jennie and I need a break every now and then.’

‘I heard that,’ Raye says.

‘I’m just totally sorry that you might’ve gotten the wrong image of me.’

He shakes his head. ‘No, I know that Raye is quite something herself.’

I can’t help but laugh, feeling a little bit better already.

Raye pulls me in a hug. ‘Thank you for tonight.’

‘I’m always willing to be the laughing stock of the evening.’

She gives me a kiss on my cheek. ‘Knew it.’

When John and I are in the car, it’s pretty silent. I stare at my hands. ‘There is nothing you need to be embarrassed about, sweetheart,’ he says.

‘My friend told you on Valentines Day in front of your friend that Eric fingered me underneath a table. I have every right to be embarrassed.’

He holds onto my hand. ‘It’s honestly not that bad.’

I look up. ‘Really?’

‘Really,’ he chuckles. ‘This won’t change the way I think about you. You had a relationship with that idiot for awhile, of course you did those kinds of things. I do have one question, though.’

‘Do I want to know?’

He smiles. ‘Why haven’t you given me a lap dance, like ever? I mean, I’m your fiancée after all.’

‘John!’ I yell. ‘You are unbelievable.’

John’s laugh fills the car.

I cross my arms in front of my chest.

‘Don’t be mad, baby,’ he laughs, ‘I’m just messing with you.’

‘Oh, really?’ I ask. ‘Because I was thinking about what song I was going to perform during my lap dance I was going to give you, since it’s Valentines Day after all… But since you’re just messing with me…’

‘You little tease.’ John places his hand on my leg, giving me a sweet squeeze. ‘What songs were you thinking of?’


	8. Chapter 8

John and Darcie are packing up their final stuff in the apartment. Darcie left all the decorations on the balcony, since she knows how much Jennie loves the way it was decorated. Darcie cares so much for her friends and it makes John all warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that this loving human being is going to be his wife in a matter of months.

John is wandering through the apartment, looking for her, but he finds her on the park bench, staring over New York City, while Oreo and Tiki are accompanying her. He walks outside, so he can join her. Tomorrow she’ll turn thirty two and they’ll be spending their first night in their new home. He can barely wait. ‘There you are,’ he says.

Darcie looks up with a lovely smile. ‘Just enjoying the final moments here,’ she says. ‘It has been such great years here and I know that Jennie will have a lot of fun here, but… A lot of things happened in this place. You and I have had a lot of firsts here.’

John pulls her up, so he can sit in her place and pulls her petite frame on his lap. ‘True,’ he says. ‘But we will have lots of firsts in our new house.’

‘I know, I know,’ she laughs, ‘but it just feels like the end of an era.’

He can’t help but kiss her cheek. ‘It is, though. Are you sure you still want to move?’

‘Of course, of course. It’s just that I’m going to miss this place and thankfully Jennie is going to move in. I don’t want anyone else moving in here.’

‘I totally understand.’

She looks over to the side, so she can look at him without straining her neck. ‘Do you need to pick up some stuff from your home in Mill Neck?’ she asks.

‘Yeah, I should, but I want to talk to you about that.’

Darcie nods. ‘Okay, about what?’

‘I want to bring the rest of my guns and equipment to our new house,’ he says.

‘Oh.’

That wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for. He understands Darcie isn’t jumping up and down with excitement, but a simple ‘oh’? What is he supposed to do with that? ‘I understand that you don’t feel comfortable and I won’t put them on display or something, but our house is a lot bigger and knowing there are more spread around the house, makes me feel safer.’

Darcie smiles, before running her fingers are through his hairs. ‘As long as I know where they are and kids can’t reach them, I’m totally fine with it.’

‘Really?’

‘It’s obvious that you know how to handle them, so there is no need for me to be worried. I get that you want them around.’

‘And you know that I will only use them to protect you, the dogs and eventually our kids.’

She smiles. ‘Of course I know that.’ She leans in, to press a long kiss on his cheekbone. ‘Why are you looking so worried?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Sweetheart, remember, I am ready to talk about all of it. I want to know about your past, how it all came together and fell apart. I want to know more about you and Helen. I want to know about all of it and after that, I still love you.’

John sighs deeply. ‘I just can’t talk about it yet.’

‘And that is totally fine, but please know that I’m here to listen to you, to understand you better. What happened then, will not change how I think about you now. I still want to marry you, want to spend the rest of my life together and start the adventure of kids with you.’

He hugs her closer to his body. He knows this. He knows that she’ll stay, even when he tells her about certain stuff. She showed him that in the beginnings of their relationship and during everything they’ve encountered ever since. He should be able to tell her about it, to tell her about certain worries he has.

But he can’t. He doesn’t know why, but he simply can’t.

⟢⟡⟣

John dropped Darcie off at their new house, so she can unpack some things already and start decorating it a bit more, while he goes to his house in Mill Neck. The last time he was here, he was preparing for his final job. After that he went back once, so he could pick up some of his stuff, that he needed for when he was staying with Darcie. He thought he’d stay for a while, but he just moved in with her.

John wished the dogs were here, but he figured that they should stay with Darcie. Slowly but surely, she, Jennie and Raye are managing to leave the cafe to each other, leaving Darcie with more time left to spare. She works too much and she realizes that. She told him she wants to work a little bit less when they have their first kid.

Emphasis on little bit, because she’ll forever stay his workaholic wife and he loves her no matter what.

John has been feeling a little down and whenever he is alone, it seems to hit him even harder. When he is alone in the cafe, he’ll be distracted long enough, just like when he is walking with the dogs. Now he is here in a house filled with certain memories, and he can’t stop thinking about it.

He decides to keep himself busy, so he walks to the basement and starts to collect the things he needs. He starts with his guns, his knifes and he even finds his fake passports. John will never need those anymore, but he does take them with him.

But, will he never need those anymore? He is a free man, for Darcie and their future, but what if one day, he is forced to go back. Does he need to arrange fake passports for Darcie and his future kids? His friends? Just in case?

John leans with his back against the wall, sighing deeply, before he walks around in his basement, taking his golden coins with him. He finally packed everything up in his car, but before he can walk out of there completely, his eyes fall on a picture of him and Helen.

John sits down near the kitchen counter and stares at the picture for God knows how long. He always thought that Helen was the love of his life. He got out for her and was willing to spend his life with her. He remembers how her health declined pretty fast and how he took care of her, like he promised her on their wedding day.

The day she died, was the day something of himself died as well. She made him promise that he’d go out again, that he’d find love again, that there was another soulmate for him right here. But then a lot of other stuff happened after that and he was back in the life that he so desperately wanted to escape. He never thought he’d be there ever again.

He took his wedding band off one day, because he felt like it would help him and he knew that Helen would’ve want that. He put it in his pocket and walked into Darcie’s cafe. As if Helen brought him there, as if she gave him the final nudge to a new life.

Darcie brought him happiness, but it was different then when he met Helen, obviously. Their lives were completely different. At first he didn’t want to get involved with Darcie. She was younger than him, he knew. However, he kept coming back and the days that he barely spoke to her, were the days that he felt the most drained. She gave him energy, she gave him back the purpose in life that he thought had died with Helen.

John felt so guilty, falling in love with her. Like he betrayed Helen, but after a while he realized that he got a second chance, just as Helen promised him. He knows that if Helen could tell him what she thought about Darcie, she would absolutely adore her. 

Everything is falling back into place again, but he can’t help but be scared. He keeps telling her that they are forever, that his money is hers, hoping it takes away her insecurities, but mostly, he is telling himself.

He is happy, but he can’t feel happy. He is scared.

John looks at the picture again. ‘Am I doing the right thing?’ he asks in a soft voice. ‘Is this the right thing for Darcie?’

⟢⟡⟣

Before John can get out of his car, he stares at his phone. He has been thinking about calling Aurelio and finally, he does it. This passport thing is eating him up alive and he needs someone else’s opinion.

‘What’s up?’ Aurelio asks when he picks up.

‘You busy?’

‘No, just getting ready to meet up with Raye, why?’

He really shouldn’t ask this. ‘Was just wondering something.’ John leans back in his seat. Does he still want to do this? Still wants to ask this? ‘I stumbled upon some passports of mine,’ he starts.

‘Right.’

‘And I was wondering: should I get Darcie one? And maybe Raye and Jennie and her parents too?’

‘Why?’

‘Because,’ John says, ‘what if one day we need them?’

‘John, man, you’re out,’ Aurelio helps to remind him. ‘I highly doubt that you will ever need to flee the country. People here know you are happy, know that you are beginning a new life. No one is going to take that away from you.’

John sighs deeply. ‘Right.’

‘I mean, you could always do it. Better to be safe than sorry, but you don’t need them. Mark my words.’

‘You are totally right, thanks.’ After he hung up, he gets out of the car and starts to carry his first suitcase inside. He is greeted by Tiki and Oreo and he hears Darcie’s footsteps approaching him.

‘There you are,’ she says with a smile. ‘You need help with carrying some stuff inside?’

‘No, baby, I’ve got it.’

‘Are you sure?’

John places the suitcase on the table close to them and says: ‘I’m sure.’ Before he walks back to his car, he presses a kiss on her forehead.

When he brought all of his stuff back in, Darcie is still waiting for him. ‘Can I see it?’ she asks.

‘See what?’

‘Your guns.’

‘Why?’

‘I’d like to know what I have laying around the house,’ she says.

John sighs, feeling this new pressure on his shoulders. ‘Sure, sweetheart,’ he says. ‘Can I have a hug first?’

Darcie smiles and walks up to him, before wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. She places her chin on his chest, looking up to him. ‘I missed you,’ she admits.

‘I missed you too.’ He lifts her up in his arms, causing her to squeal. ‘You know that I would never purposely put you in danger, right?’

She frowns. ‘I know that. Of course I know that. Did something happen?’

‘No, nothing happened. Just… The stuff brought back some memories, that’s all.’ He gives her a kiss and says: ‘All good, I promise.’

He puts her back on the ground and hands her a bag. ‘Just some paperwork I need to put in our safe,’ he tells her. ‘Could you carry this?’

‘I can carry something else, John,’ she says with a smile, before flexing her muscles. He does admit that for someone who is that tiny, she is scarily strong from time to time.

He squeezes her bicep and says: ‘Here, this is some ammunition.’

She holds it tightly in her other hand and rushes up the enormous stairs. John feels a small smile creep up on his face. He carries the rest upstairs and finds her near their safe. She is crouched in front of it, while she presses in the code and opening the safe. ‘You want this bag with the paperwork in there?’ she asks, looking up at him.

John wonders if she wants to know what’s in the bag, but since she doesn’t ask, he doesn’t think he should tell her now. He simply nods and she places it there. ‘Is there more or is this it?’

‘This is it, sweetheart.’

She closes their safe and stands up. ‘Where are you going to put them?’ she asks.

‘For now in my bookbinding room,’ he answers. ‘I have to think about other places.’

‘Okay, come on.’ She takes the ammunition with her as she walks past him. The way she handles this all way too nonchalantly, it leaves him confused, but he follows her nonetheless to his bookbinding room.

⟢⟡⟣

John can’t sleep at all that night. He pulls Darcie closer to his side. Like most nights, she’s drooling on his chest. He always thinks it’s such a lovely and cute trait. Seeing her this relaxed, it’s a good sign. She sure trust him a lot.

After they’ve placed all of his stuff in the bookbinding room, he locked the door, wanting to put a barrier between the love of his life, his dogs and his past.

His fingers are brushing against her arm, quietly drawing figures on her skin. He shouldn’t worry about this.

Darcie places her chin on his shoulder and mumbles: ‘Why aren’t you asleep?’

‘Can’t sleep, baby.’

‘Is it because I’m old now?’ Darcie asks. ‘Are you going to exchange me for a younger model, mister Wick? Now that I’m thirty two?’

He smiles. ‘Of course not. But that does remind me: happy birthday, Darcie.’

‘Thank you, sweetheart.’ She looks over to check the alarm clock. ‘Is it four?’

‘Mhm.’

‘Have you slept at all tonight?’

Knowing he can’t lie to that question, he simply shakes his head.

‘Oh, baby, you want me to make you some tea?’ she asks. Darcie is already sitting up straight, rubbing her eyes, but John pulls her back.

‘If someone should make anyone tea, it’s going to be me making it for you,’ he says. ‘It’s your birthday, I’m going to take good care of you.’

‘I have to go to work, though.’

‘I know, but before and after work, you’re all mine. Besides, you don’t want to know what I got for your birthday?’

‘You bought this house,’ she says. ‘You bought my wedding dress and many more things. I highly doubt I need more.’

‘Of course you need more and you are going to love it.’ He flicks on the lights so he can actually see what he is doing and grabs out a red velvet box out of his nightstand. ‘This, my love, is for you.’

‘John, this already looks expensive.’

He smirks. ‘Just open it.’

She takes it from him. Underneath the blankets, she plops between his legs, leaning with her shoulder against his chest. Sometimes he wonders when she’ll ever get sick of him, but then she just sits this close to him, or wraps her arms around his when they are waiting in in line at the grocery store or she peppers him with kisses when she walks past his table in the cafe.

She opens the box up and stares at what’s inside. John takes the bracelet from the box and holds it up. ‘I see the D of Darcie,’ she says, touching each pendant, ‘the J of John, the T of Tiki and the O of Oreo.’

‘And,’ John whispers, ‘when we have kids, we’ll add their letters to it as well.’

‘No, no, no,’ Darcie says, her voice breaking in the process.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘This is too sweet.’

John can’t stop the chuckle. ‘Come on, let me put it on for you.’

She holds out her wrist and he places it on it. It fits perfectly and she gives him a kiss. ‘You are unbelievable, John. It’s perfect.’

‘I know,’ he laughs.

‘Thank you.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ He wraps his arms tightly around her, as he kisses her tears away from her hot cheeks. ‘How about we get out of bed, make some coffee and watch the sunrise?’

‘Sounds like a perfect way to start our day.’

John gets out of bed, puts on some sweats, before he puts on some socks. He watches as Darcie puts on some socks as well and grabs a sweater of John’s to put it on. ‘Hop on my back,’ he says.

‘John!’

‘Just do it,’ he laughs.

She hops on his back and he carries her downstairs. As long as he can distract himself, as long as he is able to do that, he won’t think about everything that has been bothering him. And for now, not thinking about it, is all he needs to do.


	9. Chapter 9

A lot has happened in the past few months. We are completely settled into our new home. John has strategically stored his guns and other equipment around the house. He also has been talking to certain contractors about rebuilding some things here and there, but he decided that after we get back from our honeymoon, we’d finalize it all.

Jennie loves living in the old apartment and it’s like something insanely heavy has been lifted off her shoulders. She is happy again and she told me that her having to leave her apartment, because it was going to be much more expensive, caused her lots of stress and brought back multiple memories about when her parents suddenly passed away.

Raye and Aurelio have been on lots of dates and since a week after my birthday, they have been pretty official and I already caught them having sex after closing hours. So yeah…

And tomorrow John and I are finally getting married. Honestly, I can’t wait anymore. I really want to marry John and become Mrs. Wick.

After my shower, I walk to the bedroom in my pajamas, only to find John is not there. I frown, he was right here when I went in for a quick shower. I wander through the entire house, but there is no sign of him. He is not with the dogs in the living room, watching some television, not in the kitchen and he is also not taking a swim.

Finally I reach our roof terrace and see he is staring at the sky, on the lounge set that he insisted on buying the other day. ‘I was looking for you,’ I say to him, when I walk towards him.

The dogs are softly wagging their tails, but too tired to get up and greet me. ‘Sorry,’ John says, ‘needed to take a breath.’

‘Don’t apologize,’ I tell him. ‘You want me to join you?’

‘Please.’ He holds out his arms and I take place between his legs, my back pressed against his chest, as we look at the sky, staring mindlessly at the clouds.

‘It’s beautiful here,’ I admit.

John wraps his arms around my upper body. ‘It is.’

He feels tense, maybe he is nervous for tomorrow. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask him.

‘I’m fine, sweetheart,’ John says in a flat tone that tells me otherwise.

‘Are you sure?’

‘You think I’m lying?’

 _God, I didn’t want him to snap like that._ I wiggle out of his arms and sit up straight. I turn around so I can look at him. ‘No,’ I tell him, ‘just wondering. Didn’t mean to bother you.’

‘I’m fine.’ His tone is a lot harsher now than it was before.

I stand up and walk towards the edge of our terrace. Great, the day before our wedding and he has a mood. I’ve barely seen John like this—actually, I haven’t seen him at all like this, especially not towards me. I think it’s for the best that I don’t say anything at all, because God knows what’s up and God knows what will happen when I accidentally say something else.

Oreo presses his cold wet nose against my ankle and when I pet him, I see out of the corners of my eyes that Tiki is accompanying John. I wonder what is going on in his mind. Is he having second thoughts about us? About the wedding? He seemed at ease. Even when we picked up my nosey ass family from the airport, he handled it with grace and was so incredibly charming, that I heard my grandma say to my mother that she likes him and wishes she wasn’t married to my grandfather.

‘Are you mad at me?’ John asks, breaking the silence between us.

‘Why would I be mad at you?’ I retort. ‘Because you snapped? Well, I could be, but I snap too sometimes, so who am I to be mad?’

‘You’re mad,’ he concludes. ‘I’m honestly fine, Darcie.’

‘Sure. If you say so.’

‘You don’t believe me, do you?’

‘No.’ I stand up and lean with my back against the balustrade. My arms are crossed in front of my chest. I’m really not looking forward to making a scene on our roof terrace, especially on the day before our wedding. ‘You’re obviously stressing about something and I want to help you, but you have to let me in.’

‘How do you know I’m stressing about something?’ He places Tiki on the ground and stands up. ‘When I say that I’m fine, I’m fine.’

He sounds pissed. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk like that and especially not to me. ‘Okay, you’re fine then. Good to know.’

John runs his fingers through his longish hair. ‘I’m going to take a swim.’

‘Go ahead,’ I say. ‘Just next time, when you feel absolutely “fine”, please be a little bit nicer. That you feel “fine”, sucks for you already, but you don’t need to make me feel like shit as well.’

_I shouldn’t have said that. Why would I say something like that?_

‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ John turns around and for the first time since we’re together, he is mad at me. Like, really mad at me. ‘Why would you say something like that?’

‘It’s obvious that something is bothering and you are not letting me in. You barely do.’

‘I let you in all the time.’

I can’t help but bark out a laugh because of that blatant lie. ‘Oh, is that so?’ I’m about to raise my voice, but since we’re outside, I manage to down it down a bit. ‘Because if I don’t ask, you don’t share. Do you have any idea how insanely needy, clingy and invasive it feels to pry and dig every single time, so I can get to know you a tiny bit better? John, honestly, I respect your boundaries, I respect the difficulties of opening up, but remember that I’m going to be your wife. And if you can’t fucking tell me what is going on inside your head a day before our wedding and you keep telling me that you are fine when it’s so obvious that you are not…’

‘You want to cancel the wedding?’

I think John could’ve slapped me in the face and it wouldn’t have hurt as much as this question. ‘What?’ I hear my own voice echo a few times. ‘That is not at all what I implied. I just said that you need to open up. How on earth does that equal canceling the wedding?’

John doesn’t say anything. His chest rises quickly and his fists are clenched. He can’t even look at me.

I almost feel sorry for him.

‘You know what,’ I tell him, ‘go ahead, take a swim. I don’t want to talk to you now, because I feel like I’m going to say something I might regret.’

John sighs.

‘See you tomorrow,’ I tell him, hoping he would just go away.

He turns around and walks from the terrace. Tiki looks up at me, before running after him, barking in the process. Oreo softly whimpers and I look to my side. ‘You want to go out for a drive?’

⟢⟡⟣

This is the first time I took out the Mustang by myself and I obviously do it in style, with my pink pajamas, with tiny milk cartons on it. I don’t know how long I’m driving, but after it’s already dark outside for awhile, I finally park the car in front of our house. Oreo sits in the passengers seat and he wags his tail when I look at him, but even then, I can’t stop thinking about John.

Earlier today, John and I checked out our venue, to finalize some things there. Aurelio, Raye and Jennie were there, my parents even stopped by for a second, probably to escape my family for a minute. John held my hand the entire time and whenever we were alone for a few seconds, he’d kiss me and tell me how happy he was that tomorrow is our wedding day. How excited he was that in less than twenty four hours we’d be husband and wife. We’d be at the beginnings of us being the Wick family.

_That still hasn’t changed right?_

‘Should I talk to him?’ I ask Oreo. ‘I have been gone for quite some time now, I bet he is worried.’ I did leave him a note, so I figure he knows I’m coming back. ‘I think I hurt his feelings,’ I say, ‘but he did the same to me. I know that since John and I are adults, it shouldn’t be like this and just because he hurt me, I can do the same.’

I sigh deeply as I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car, Oreo following me. I lock the car, before I walk into our house. This can’t be the end of our fairytale, right?

From the looks of it, John is already in bed. I walk past the note to see he scribbled something on it. A simple heart, so I know that he read it and almost like he lets me know that he still loves me.

Oreo found his spot on the couch and I see Tiki is already curled up on her blanket. John left on some small lights, so while I walk upstairs, I click them off. I carefully open up the door and when I look inside, I see he is still up, staring at the ceiling with the lights next to him on.

This situation gives me major flashbacks about the time when he got shot during his final job.

‘You’re back,’ he says, when he sits up straight.

‘Of course.’ I lean against the door after I closed it. ‘How was your swim?’

John shrugs. ‘Okay.’

‘Right.’ I walk towards my side of the bed and grab my pillow. ‘I think I’m going to sleep in the guest room,’ I say.

‘Why?’

‘I don’t want to upset you.’

John sighs. ‘You’re not going to upset me.’

‘How are you sure?’ I hug my pillow to my chest and I wish deep down that I was hugging John right now.

‘I want to talk about this,’ he says. ‘I really do. But first and foremost, I want to apologize for how I behaved.’

I shake my head. ‘No, if anyone should apologize, it’s me. I treated you like crap.’

‘You didn’t,’ he tells me. ‘You stood up for yourself and I admire that. You should stand up for yourself, you know that and you know I want that.’

‘I hurt you, John.’

‘You did,’ he tells me, ‘but it was necessary.’

I shake my head. ‘No, John…’ This really shouldn’t be a moment for me to cry, but tears are spilling out of my eyes. I quickly wipe them away, but John noticed.

Of course he noticed.

‘Don’t cry, sweetheart,’ he whispers. ‘Please, come here.’

Hearing him so vulnerable, so tiny, I place my pillow back and crawl underneath our thin blanket. He holds out his arms and I curl up beside him, melting against his strong frame.

‘I was such an asshole,’ he tells me. ‘Especially since you were only being thoughtful and helpful, like you usually are. You were right anyways, something was bothering me.’

‘Before I ask,’ I say, ‘you think I’m invasive and clingy?’

John shakes his head. ‘No, of course not and I hate the fact that I gave you that impression. Fuck, I’m such a screw up.’

‘No, John,’ I say, ‘you are not a screw up. I love you, remember that.’

He nods. ‘I love you too.’

‘Do you want to let me in or…?’

‘I want to,’ he whispers.

‘But you can’t?’

John sighs. ‘I just keep wondering: what if this is all going to be taken away from me? It happened to me before, what if it happens again?’

‘And what exactly are you afraid of?’

‘That one day I wake up and you’re not there.’

‘You’re afraid I’m going to run off? Or be taken from you?’

He shrugs. ‘Both I guess.’

‘John,’ I say, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. ‘I’m not going anywhere. The one that I love, is you. You know how I was and still am a bit, afraid of talking to someone about the future. However, when I’m with you, I can’t stop.’

He places his forehead on my shoulder. ‘I’m just overreacting.’

‘No, no, no, don’t say that. You are not overreacting. When you are open about your feelings and insecurities, you’re not overreacting. I’m so grateful that you trust me enough that you can be open with me.’

‘But you were right, Darcie. I’m barely open with you. I told you I’m open with you all the time, but that was a lie. I lied to you.’

‘We’ll work on that once we are married, okay?’ I say.

John wants to say something. ‘Yeah, okay. Are we good again?’

I smile. ‘Of course, just can’t believe that one day before our wedding, we have our first real fight.’

‘But we handled it.’

I give him a kiss on his cheek. ‘We’ll always handle it. I still love you, John.’

‘I love you too, my sweet lovely Darcie.’

⟢⟡⟣

I’m going to get married in less than four hours. After our fight last night, John and I had a good conversation about our wedding tomorrow, not mentioning all the things that he still didn’t tell me. Though we were tired, we woke up at four in the morning and John whispered in my ear that he wanted to make love to his fiancée one more time, before we got married.

It had been such a lovely morning and when we arrived at the venue, we realized that we’d be getting married in just a matter of hours. The smile on John’s face was priceless and it made me realize that I was so lucky that I’m going to marry him.

The make-up artist is finishing up the last bits of my make-up, while she continues to rave about how handsome my fiancé is, after she demanded on seeing more pictures of him. I take every possibility with both of my hands when I can show him off, so I kept looking for the best pictures I have of him, causing her to grow more jealous with each photo.

I’m already wearing my dress, with a see through cape draped over me, to protect it from the make-up. Raye and Jennie are wearing their respective bridesmaids dresses and they continue to make pictures, because—and I quote—this is so fucking amazing.

We hear two knocks on the door and my dad peeks around the corner after Raye told him it was all safe. ‘What’s up?’ she asks him. ‘Mister Angel, you look quite nervous. Is it because you have to walk your daughter down the aisle?’

‘No, I just want to talk to the bridesmaids for a second,’ he says with a smile, but something about it makes me feel a little worried. The smile doesn’t reach his eyes, like at all.

Jennie and Raye leave the room and thank God the make-up artist is done. I quickly thank her and walk towards the door. I place my ear against it and I hear Aurelio say: ‘I already checked their new place, the old apartment, but he is not there.’

‘I can’t believe you,’ Raye says to him. ‘I thought you were going to keep him company.’

‘Geez, I’m sorry, but a man’s gotta pee. Besides, I’m his best man, not his babysitter.’

I don’t like the sound of this. Without thinking I open the door. ‘What are you guys talking about?’

They all look at each other with a worried look on their faces. My dad takes a deep breath, before he says: ‘I’m so sorry, Darcie, but we can’t seem to find John anywhere.’


	10. Chapter 10

At least Darcie had the human decency to leave John a note when she went out yesterday. He just took off, didn’t even bring his phone with him. He should’ve texted her at least where he was going, he bets she is worried sick about him.

John should’ve just told Darcie about his thoughts, but al he gave her were random bits and pieces of his past and now he regrets it. He feels so insanely guilty and when they were talking yesterday, he should’ve told her. All of it.

But no, he agreed on postponing this moment until after the wedding.

John hasn’t been here since the day he took off his wedding band. He stands in front of Helen’s tombstone in his wedding suit. It feels wrong to wear this, while visiting his first wife’s grave.

Though he knows he should go back to the venue, before anyone notices he is gone, he can’t seem to tear himself apart from the grave.

John used to come here a lot. He would talk to her, about all the things that went wrong, about who he had killed now and how. Helen never knew about his former life. The only thing he wanted was to make her happy and if she knew about that part of his life, he didn’t know whether or not she would stay with him.

With Darcie, he did better, not perfect, but better. Though he never planned on telling her this, he eventually did and he does believe that it made them a lot stronger. But he did her wrong, he knows that. John should’ve told her about his true feelings, he should’ve spilled it all.

John crouches down, so he can touch the cold stone with his hand. ‘Helen, honey,’ he whispers, ‘I screwed up. Fuck, I screwed up big time. I’m supposed to get married.’ He tells her about their fight yesterday and he wishes that she would say something to him. That he could hear her voice and that she tells him that it’s okay, because that’s what he needs to hear. It has been nearly seven years. He is allowed to move on, she specifically told him, but why is it so hard?

It’s Darcie he is going to marry. The love of his life. His second chance in life to get things all right now. She is the one that he wants to love forever and ever. She is going to be the mother of their kids, he knows that, he wants that.

‘I want to marry Darcie,’ he says, ‘I do, but what if I screw up? What if I already have? I mean, I walked away hours before the wedding, without telling her where I went. What kind of husband does that? God, I’m such a fucking idiot.’

‘No, you’re not.’

John freezes. He must’ve dreamed that, but when he looks over his shoulder, he realizes he is not dreaming.

Darcie is standing behind him. She’s beautiful. He has seen her twice now in her wedding dress, but right now, she looks like a bride with her make-up done with light pink touches and the headpiece in her hair.

John is such a moron for leaving the venue, for leaving her.

She walks up to him and places her hand on his shoulder. ‘You’re not a screw up, John,’ Darcie tells him, ‘nor are you a fucking idiot. Just… Next time you decide to take a quick trip somewhere before an important event, just bring your phone with you and maybe leave a note.’

John stands up. ‘I’m sorry.’ He clears his throat, to prevent himself from crying. ‘How did you even know I was here?’

‘At first I thought you were in Mill Neck,’ she tells him. ‘So Aurelio was going to take me there, but I realized we were going into the wrong direction. I figured you’d be with Helen.’

‘I never told you where she was buried.’

She shrugs.

John knows that Helen brought her here. He simply knows it deep down. And if that isn’t a sign that he should definitely marry her, that Helen would definitely approve this…

He so badly wants to touch Darcie right now, to simply hold her hand, but he can’t seem to do it. ‘Darcie, I didn’t mean to run away… I just…’ He looks at his shoes, unable to continue to talk.

‘I know,’ she tells him. ‘But at least you should’ve told someone where you were going. Not because I need to know where you are 24/7, but more because we are going to get married in a few hours and it takes two people for that. I’d prefer the other person being you, if I’m being honest.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispers, carefully looking up.

She shakes her head. ‘You go here often?’

‘Not anymore.’

‘But when you do, you talk to her?’

‘Most of the times, yeah,’ John admits, feeling a bit embarrassed, though he doesn’t know why. Out of all the people in the world, she is the one person who’d understand, he knows that.

John watches her crouching down in front of the tombstone. ‘Though I don’t know much about you, Helen,’ she says, ‘I do know that you made him happy. I can see it in the way his eyes start to sparkle when he does mention you. I believe that you took such good care of him and that you loved him with all your heart. I know for a fact that he took care of you when you were sick and that he loved you. John will always love you and I understand completely. I have seen pictures of the two of you and heard about a few things you did together and though I’ll never be you and never intend to be, I promise you that I’ll take good care of him.’ She places her hand on the tombstone. ‘And thank you for leading me to him. The rainbow truly helped.’

John looks up, only to see a bright rainbow. It hasn’t rained on this sunny day and he now knows for sure that it was Helen that lead his fiancée back to him.

He doesn’t want to cry, he promised himself he wouldn’t do that, but now he can’t help himself. Darcie stands up and wraps him up in a hug. ‘I’m not going to tell you, that you should’ve let me in,’ she whispers, as he pulls her body closer to his, ‘because it’s not my place to tell. What I am going to tell you is that if you don’t want to get married today, you don’t have to. We can postpone.’

John shakes his head. ‘No, that’s not what I want. What I want, is to marry you. I just… I just feel so stupid for not telling you all of this.’

‘Define this,’ she says.

‘My feelings. My doubts. My insecurities.’

Darcie grabs his wrist and looks at his watch. ‘We have around two hours before we get married,’ she says. ‘We have time.’

⟢⟡⟣

John doesn’t think he has ever spoken so much in one sitting, not even to Darcie. They drive back to their venue in his Mustang and even after they have parked the car in the lot, she keeps on listening to him. He told her about his work and how he fell in love with Helen. What he had to do to escape, to live his happily ever after. What happened with Iosev Tarasov after Helen passed. How Santino used his marker. How he was declared excommunicado.

He had managed to escape that entire world, so he could be with Helen, only to be part of that world after it all fell apart fight in front of him, when he was at his worst. Darcie knew quite a lot about this already, but not how he wanted to get out again after he met her. He tells her about his final mission, what went wrong and how he got shot, but also that in the end, he got what he wanted.

A life with her.

But what she didn’t know was that ever since they got engaged, he was scared. He was this close of becoming a married man again, of making it more official and he thought he was going to lose her again. That she might realize someday that he is not the man she deserves. That one day she’d be taken away from him.

‘I hope you know that you deserve this second chance, John,’ she tells him, placing her hand on his, after he is done talking. ‘You are the kindest and bravest man I know. Of course I wished you told me all about this and your feelings before, so I could help you process it, but this is a lot. I understand you were too afraid to tell me this.’

He feels her soft squeeze in his hand, causing him to look up.

‘I still think that we need to be more open with one another and with we, I actually mean you.’

He nods. ‘I know and I agree.’

‘But all of this hasn’t changed anything about my feelings for you. I still love you, I still want to marry you and I still want to get to know you a lot more.’

‘You are unbelievable,’ he admits, followed by a laugh of disbelieve. ‘You still love me after all of this?’

‘Of course,’ she says without hesitating and he feels a bit better already. ‘And you know, right now we are going to get married, but when we leave for our honeymoon, we’re going to work on your openness, okay? Because I don’t want it to eat you up alive. Whenever there is something on your mind, whether it’s doubt, fear or love, I want to know about it.’

John nods. ‘I’ll work hard on this, I promise. And I also feel better already.’

She smiles. ‘Already working.’

He kisses her fingers. ‘I’m so insanely sorry, baby.’

‘Don’t be, just see this as a learning moment. We all need those from time to time. But we have less than five minutes before our wedding starts and according to Raye, we really need to hurry.’

John checks himself in the rearview mirror and when he thinks he looks okay, he gets out. Since Darcie knows him way too well, she stays seated and he walks around the car and opens the door for her. Together they rush to the gate and he sees that everyone who takes part of the wedding is already there, waiting for them.

‘Well, mister Mustang, you sure know how to make a wedding a little more adventurous.’

Before he can even feel the slightest bit guilty, Darcie tells Raye in a stern voice: ‘Don’t.’ She turns to her father and says: ‘Dad, listen, I know you were set on giving me away, but… I feel like I should walk with John. I’ll tell you all about it later, but you’ve gotta trust me on this one, okay?.’

For a second John thinks Christian is going to be mad at her or him, but he nods and gives her a kiss on her cheek. ‘I totally understand, munchkin. Jennie, you still want to walk alone down the aisle, or can I walk with you?’

‘Mister Angel, you can always walk with me,’ Jennie laughs. She looks at us, just to be sure. ‘You two are all okay?’

‘More than okay.’ John looks at Darcie and pulls her closer to his frame. ‘I’m sorry to all of you, for worrying everyone. It wasn’t my intention.’

‘We’ll talk about it later,’ Aurelio says. ‘First, the two of you need to get married.’


	11. Chapter 11

Being with John, always gave me this serene feeling. A calm feeling. Knowing that if something went wrong, he’d be there.

Now something did went wrong and he wasn’t there. While it was my natural instinct to completely freak out, being paralyzed by fear and doubt, I somehow did remain calm.

I figured that once I would find John, I’d be mad and upset with him, but when I saw him crouched down in front of Helen’s tombstone, I didn’t feel any of those things. I felt so sorry for him. He finally told me more about himself, his past life and everything that he has been going through. I sort of processed it all, but despite that, I can’t stop thinking about everything he had gone through, mostly by himself.

His grief, his pain, his anger.

I place my head against his strong arm, as I wrapped mine around it. I’m going to marry the man of my dreams. I’ve dreamed about my wedding, but after I broke up with Eric, I never thought I’d marry anyone. I felt so single, so lonely and thought I was going to be that woman who owned that cafe, watched everyone else get married and have kids, while I’d die alone with Tiki and other dogs I’d adopt out of self pity.

But so much has happened and marrying John… It turns out that it’s the only thing I’ve ever truly wanted.

‘I love you, John.’

He places a kiss on top of my head. ‘I love you too, baby,’ John tells me. ‘Are you ready?’

‘More than ready. Are you?’

‘Of course.’

We start to walk down the aisle. We chose an outdoor wedding, because it spoke to us the most and right now I’m so happy that we did. The rainbow is still full in view and it makes me feel weirdly comforted, knowing that Helen is watching over us, seeing us get married, right after John told me all about it.

After I spoke to Helen at her grave, I realized that she will always be there. Always be there in John’s heart. But she loved him a lot and John still loves her and I understand.

I see all the people that I really wanted there. Besides my excessive family, I see all the staff from the cafe, including Ellie and Roger, Tina and Greg. They have a big smile on their faces and Tina even blinks away a few tears.

They all got accepted into the universities they wanted to go to, with John’s help with their admissions. Tina is going to UCLA, while Greg, Roger and Ellie are all staying here in the state. I know it’s going to be hard on Greg, but knowing them, they’ll make it work. He truly loves her and I’ve heard them talking about how they would make their long distance relationship work, even asked not only John and me for advice, but also wanting to know what Jennie’s opinion was and how Raye and Aurelio would deal with it.

I also see Winston and Charon, who simply nod at us. Some guys of Aurelio’s chop shop.

My mom is crying, just like my grandmother and I don’t want to look too long at them, because I know I’ll start to uncontrollably sob too. John has placed his hand on mine, giving me a comforting squeeze. When I look up, John sends me a smile.

The officiant was someone that Winston from the Continental knew and apparently it’s a good one, since my father knew about him too. He seemed like a nice guy, so let’s hope he is not going to bore me to death.

‘Dearly beloved,’ the officiant starts, when John and I are standing in front of each other, holding our hands tightly together. ‘We are gathered here today, to celebrate the love between Jonathan Wick and Darcie Ryujin Angel. According to their friends and family, they are—and I quote—the most cutest couple on earth, but they make them vomit.’

I can’t help but chuckle and look at Raye, who just shrugs.

‘They decided to write their own vows, so therefore, who wants to start?’

I look to John and he just nods towards me. ‘Asshole,’ I mouth to him, but I reach for the piece of paper that Jennie hands to me.

My hands are shaking when I open the folded paper and I clear my throat. Tears are already building up in my eyes, but I don’t want to cry just yet. ‘Dear John,’ I start, ‘when you walked into my cafe, all I could think was that you were a mysterious and handsome man. You remained handsome, you remained mysterious, but I did learn one more thing about you: you are the most boring customer any store and or cafe owner could possibly get. Always ordering the same thing: one cappuccino and a chocolate brownie. Despite that, I couldn’t help myself but to fall in love with you. The way you would sit at your table every day, spoiling my dog with treats… I was counting the hours until I would see you again, because it was never enough. Every visit was too short.’

I look up from my paper, only to see John staring at me already, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

‘I finally got to know you a bit better and though we’ve had our ups and downs, there is not a single guy that has shown me the love that you have shown me. The way you care not only about me, but also about Tiki, about Oreo, about my best friends, my cafe, my sweetest customers and my family… You love with all your heart, John. Sometimes I look at you and I wonder: what did I do to deserve you? I know I can’t be the wife that you deserve, but I sure as hell can try my best, my hardest to be the one that deserves you. Because whether you like it or not, I’m never going to let you go. This wedding, marrying you, is the start to our forever. To our happily ever after and even with everything we’ve been through, I’d do it all over again, just to be with you. Because I love you so much, John Wick.’

John holds my hand, brings it to his lips, to give me a tender kiss on my fingers. ‘I love you too, Darcie,’ he whispers.

Jennie takes the piece of paper from my hand and Aurelio gives John his. He stares at it for a moment, before he licks his bottom lip and says: ‘I had been looking for happiness for years, but had yet to find it. I decided to get my mind off of everything and walk into your cafe. I hoped that I was able to forget about my own responsibilities. That day I met you and I did forget about my own responsibilities, because all I could think about, was you. Your smile, your contagious laugh and especially the way you would look at me when you’d take my order. You were the highlight of my day, Darcie and I’ve told you this before, but you are the highlight of lots of peoples day. Seeing how you run your cafe with such grace, with so much love, I realized something: I was falling hard for you and I couldn’t stop anymore. For months I thought you were just being friendly and I had turned into a teenager with an idiotic crush on someone he could never get, like Roger.’

I place my hand in front of my mouth, to prevent myself from bursting out in laughter, but when I look up, I see Roger laughing the hardest of everyone.

‘This is a big step for the both of us. I can’t help but to feel and to be the happiest man on earth. I’m going to be the husband of the woman who owns the best cafe in the entire USA. The best cafe in the whole world for that matter. I’m the lucky one who is guaranteed to have a seat there, every single day. You said that you can’t be the wife I deserve, but I have to tell you, baby, that you are wrong. Usually I agree with you, but that is the biggest lie you ever told me.’

I wipe away my tears and bless the make-up artist for using waterproof mascara, because with the rate I’m crying at, I would’ve looked like a panda had I used my own make-up.

‘I’m definitely the one that doesn’t deserve you and I’ll work hard to try and be the one that you deserve. As much as I loved calling you my girlfriend and my fiancée, there is only one thing that I truly want and that’s for you to become my wife, so I can introduce you as such.’

John sliding his ring on my finger and me doing it to him, I all undergo it between sniffles. Looking at John, he has been holding back his own tears.

It has been such a rollercoaster of emotions the past twenty four hours. First we manage to piss each other off, then we show each other our unconditional love for one another, then he runs off and we have the biggest heart to heart talk we’ve ever had. And now I’m listening to the officiant pronouncing us husband and wife after we mange to choke out our ‘I do’s’.

‘You may kiss your bride.’

John has a smile on his face. His large hands hold both sides of my face, his thumbs softly wiping away the tears underneath my eyes. ‘I love you, Mrs. Wick.’

‘I love you too,’ I whisper back, before closing the gap between us, his soft lips against mine. This kiss is more passionate than our kisses have ever been. Maybe it has to do something with us being officially married, maybe it has something to do with him being more open and maybe it is because this is the start to our future.

I don’t know, but one thing I know for sure.

I’m not letting this man go.

Never ever.

⟢⟡⟣

Though our reception is nice and I have a great laugh watching my Korean grandma trying to show off some of her “awesome” dance moves, I keep thinking about what John told me before the wedding. It was a lot and I was relieved that he felt comfortable enough to eventually share.

It hasn’t always been that easy.

He scared the living shit out of me, walking away on our wedding day, but now I watch him, holding my little cousin Seulgi who is four, in his arms, while he dances with her. They have a huge language barrier, with John not speaking a word Korean and Seulgi not speaking any English, but he makes it work. He lets her ruffle his long hairs, lets her smushing his face together and he laughs it all off.

I can’t wait for us to start a family.

‘Miss Angel, you look absolutely gorgeous,’ Roger says, who stands beside me, with a drink in his hand.

I lean in, to smell what it is in his cup (I suspect Raye from sneaking in some alcohol), but I come to the conclusion he has some juice in his cup. ‘Good boy,’ I say, patting his shoulder. ‘Why aren’t you with Ellie?’

‘Ellie is talking to Jennie, trying to get more information about that Aurelio man,’ he says. ‘Besides, Tina and Greg are enjoying their final moments together before she goes off to college, so I figured I would join you.’

‘Very sweet of you, Roger.’

‘You know, I’m really going to miss your cafe once I go to college,’ he admits. He nervously plays with his tie, while staring at the dance floor. ‘You really brought me a lot of happiness and joy, miss Angel, just like you brought mister John lots of happiness, according to his vow.’

‘I’m going to miss you too, sweetheart,’ I say to him. ‘It will probably not be the same, without you guys there nearly every day. You and Greg have really been there from the beginnings of the cafe.’

‘Well, we’ll definitely visit you when we can,’ he says, ‘because I don’t know I can live that long without you.’

‘Always the drama queen,’ I laugh. ‘They’ll be tons of coffee places, Roger.’

‘But none will feel like yours,’ he says.

I nod. ‘Damn it, you’re going to make me cry,’ I say, tears already burning in my eyes.

‘Miss Angel,’ he continues, ‘your cafe brought me a lot I want in life. It brought me a safe haven, a girlfriend and a glimpse of the future. So, though we’ll don’t be there nearly daily, I’ll definitely stop by to check on you and John every now and then.’

‘I’ll hold you to that.’

‘You want to dance?’ he asks. ‘This’ll probably the one and only time I can ever dance with you.’ Roger holds out his hand and with a smile I take it. You can see he has been to his fair share of school dances, because this kid knows what he is doing. ‘So, while I’m going to start college, you are going to start live an adult life.’

‘What do you think is an “adult” life?’

‘Kids, responsibilities. We’ve heard you two talk about the future,’ he says. ‘Though I’m going to enjoy my years in college and all, I can’t wait for that kind of an adult life with Ellie.’

‘God, Roger, you are the sweetest kid ever,’ I admit. ‘Ellie is a lucky girl.’

‘Well, I’m an even luckier guy,’ he says.

I give the sweetest high schooler a kiss on his cheek. ‘I’m going to miss you too, but you better enjoy those years in college.’

‘Yeah, I will.’

He twirls me around the dance floor, causing me to laugh. Two days after John and I return from our honeymoon, Tina is going to UCLA and a week after that, Roger, Ellie and Greg are going to their respective colleges. It’s going to be such a change, not seeing them every single day, but besides that, there never are going to be kids like them.

They told me that they will say goodbye to me, Raye, Jennie and John and it means the world to me that they see us as role models.

I don’t know how long I dance with Roger, how long we laugh at my family who embarrass themselves, but eventually John taps Roger on his shoulder. ‘Ellie is looking for you,’ he tells him.

‘Where is she?’

‘She’s at the chocolate bar,’ John answers.

Roger gives me a tight hug and even hugs John, before he walks away. John has a smile on his face and he looks like such a proud father. If it weren’t for John’s help, the kid might not gotten into college. ‘May I?’ he asks.

‘Always.’

He holds my hand tightly, placing his other large hand on the small of my back. ‘God, you are my wife,’ he says, ‘still have to get used to that.’

‘I know,’ I laugh. ‘You somehow managed to pull yourself away from Seulgi.’

‘She is the cutest,’ John admits. ‘It’s a shame that she is going back to Korea in two days. I’m going to miss her, just like the rest of your family for that matter.’

‘Maybe we should go to South Korea more often. To meet my family every now and then.’

He nods. ‘That would be lovely. You have such a large family.’ He clears his throat. ‘When we have kids, I want them to have a large and loving family. Even though they won’t be seeing most of them on a weekly basis, but it’s nice to know that they have that many cousins.’

I stand on my tippy toes, to give him a long kiss on his cheek. ‘I love you,’ I tell him. ‘God, I love you so fucking much.’

John smiles. ‘I love you more.’

‘Not possible.’

‘Very possible,’ he retorts. He wraps both of his arms around my waist and peppers the left side of my face with millions of kisses. ‘I’m never going to let you go,’ he says and I can feel him smiling underneath all those kisses. ‘Never ever ever.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested: their wedding was based on this tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@miwoong/video/6835508544721276161?u_code=dcbj9gcmg2ajdg&preview_pb=0&language=en&_d=dcbja50ij8l0ha&share_item_id=6835508544721276161×tamp=1593529485&utm_campaign=client_share&app=musically&utm_medium=ios&user_id=6826733716976518150&tt_from=copy&utm_source=copy&source=h5_m


	12. Chapter 12

Darcie looks up when she feels John staring staring at her. He smiles, even though he just got caught. ‘Hi beautiful,’ he says to her.John is drained when they finally arrive back at their place. They stand in the master bedroom and while he tries to undo his tie, he watches Darcie taking off her wedding dress. Her beautiful body is now only left in white undergarment, with lace details. She never wore something like this. Sure, she has her fair share of underwear with lace, but the way her ass looks in this set, how her breasts fit perfectly in the cups of her bra.

She simply rolls her beautiful eyes, before chuckling. ‘Hi handsome,’ she says. She stares at him for a moment. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Just a bit tired.’

‘Understandable, it has been a pretty…’ She takes off her earrings, while she is looking for the right word to describe it. ‘Pretty emotional day.’ She holds out her hand and he doesn’t even hesitate to rush towards her. She pulls him in for a long kiss and says when she lets him go: ‘However, it was all worth it, because we are the Wicks now.’

John can’t help but smile like an idiot. ‘We are indeed.’

The two of them change into their pajamas (and with the hot weather, for John that’s just his boxers and for Darcie it’s just a simple short with a thin tank top—but John knows she’ll be out of those within fifteen minutes) and they go to their bathroom. No matter how tired Darcie is, she will and she must do her skin care routine every morning and every night. John stands behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and whenever she looks back in the mirror, he earns himself a smile from her. No matter how long they have been together, that smile of hers is the reason he wakes up every morning.

She is finally at the last step of her routine, massaging the moisturizer in her face. He loves it when she dresses up and seeing her in her wedding dress today, he fell even more in love with her. But when she’s dressed down like this, a simple set of pajamas, no make-up… It gives him more glimpses of the future. Maybe if they have a daughter, they can wear matching pajamas, wear matching hairbands.

John lifts her up, as if she would still be wearing her wedding dress and carries her back to the bedroom. ‘I’m glad we’re alone,’ he whispers, placing her delicately on the bed.

‘Really? And why is that?’ Darcie asks, propping herself up on her elbows.

‘Because,’ he says, taking place between her soft legs, his hands placed on her knees, ‘I like your family and your friends and the people we invited, sure, but I need you all to myself.’ John leans in, placing his underarms next to her head, making sure he doesn’t crush her underneath his large frame. ‘I feel like I should apologize.’

‘Why?’

‘Because of everything I did over the past few months and especially earlier today.’

‘But John,’ she says, her fingers running through his hairs, ‘you already apologized, multiple times. It’s all okay.’ She presses a kiss on his cheek. ‘Really.’ Her other hand is slowly stroking his arm, her nails grazing over his muscles. ‘But if you feel better if you’d apologize again, then I totally understand. For me you don’t have to do it. I know for a fact that you are sorry.’

‘It’s just…’ he starts, but he doesn’t know where to begin. There is so much he wants to apologize for. Not being good enough for her. Withholding information from her. ‘I’m sorry for not being totally honest with you,’ he tells her. ‘And I’ll be better in the future.’

‘That’s all I want to know and all I care about.’

John kisses her, Darcie Wick, his lovely wife. She’s officially his wife now, officially the one he is going to spend his life with. He buries his face between her breasts, leaving behind wet kisses. For a second he is worried that she is too tired after today and doesn’t want to do this after this exhausting day, but then she wraps her legs around his hips.

John pulls off her shorts and when her tank top falls on the floor, he admires her naked body. If he could, he’d kiss every little bit of skin, but his boxers are getting tighter. He shreds himself from his boxers, before he pulls her with her. He leans with his back against the headboard of their bed, while she sits on his lap. His thumb toys over her hardened nipple, earning him a strangled moan from Darcie. While he massages her breast, his tongue swirls around her nipple.

Her hips grind against his, as she whimpers when some tension is relieved. ‘My beautiful wife,’ he whispers against her sensitive skin.

Darcie reaches between them, holding his hard member in her delicate hand. ‘John,’ she whispers, causing him to look up. ‘I’ll forever love you, you know that right?’

He smiles and he kisses her lips. ‘Of course I know that, sweetheart and I will love you too, forever and longer.’

She brings his cock near her entrance and she lets it slide inside. She gasps as her tight walls are stretching around him. John brings his hands to her hips. ‘You okay, sweetheart?’

She sends him a look. ‘I’m not going to say it.’

‘What are you not going to say?’ He has a cocky smile on his face and Darcie rolls with her eyes. ‘Come on, enlighten me, baby.’

She sighs. ‘I’m still not used on how big you are,’ she whispers against his lips. Her hips start to slowly grind against his. She rides him agonizingly slow.

‘You can do better than this, baby,’ John tells her, his fingers digging deeper in her skin, probably leaving bruises. She rides him faster, while he leans back, admiring the view of her breasts bouncing up and down, right in front of his eyes. With his thumb he touches her swollen clit. Her nails dig deep in his chest, maybe leaving some slight scratches, but he has been through a lot worse and this is caused by the love of his life, so he doesn’t care.

‘Fuck, John,’ she moans out loud, throwing her head back. Her walls tighten around him and he clenches his jaw together. ‘John, babe, I’m really close.’

‘I know, sweetheart.’ He places his hand from her hip, to the back of her head. He knows by the strangled sounds she makes, she is really close and he kisses her deeply as she starts to shake on top of him. She sobs against his lips, riding out her high. She swats away his thumb from her clit, as she presses her chest against his, her face in the crook of his neck.

‘You okay?’ he asks, wrapping his arms around her, as her warm and tight walls are still around his cock.

‘I am,’ she pants. ‘Tell me, how do you want me?’

Maybe it’s because they are married now that she feels comfortable enough to ask him this question, maybe it’s because she really wants him. He never thought he’d ever hear those words leaving her lips. ‘On all fours.’

They barely do it like that, but after he watched her all day, he couldn’t help but fantasizing about taking her from behind. He has put the thoughts to the side the entire day, but now, he needs her exactly in that position.

She does what he told her to do. Her back is nicely bend, her ample behind sticking up nicely. He holds her asscheeks in his hands, pulling them apart. ‘Look at you,’ he whispers, but loud enough for her to hear it. ‘So wet and all mine.’

He guides himself to her wet entrance and she moans in the sheets, her fists clenching some of the fabric. ‘You okay, sweetheart?’

‘Mhm.’

‘You know what to say and I’ll stop right away.’

‘I know,’ she says and he can hear her smiling. His thrusts start off slowly, like they always do, but it doesn’t take him too long to speed up. Darcie lets out a cry, when John reaches down to assault her clit with his fingers. She screams out his name, but it’s yet again muffled by the sheets.

John gently pulls her up by her long black hairs, bringing her ear up to his lips. ‘Do that again, sweetheart,’ he grunts in her ear. ‘Let the neighbors know how who makes you feel this good.’ He sucks on the skin a little below her ear. While his left hand is still touching her clit, the other traveled from her hair to her breast, rolling her nipple between his thumb and index finger.

Her soft whimpers are nothing compared to the screams she let out a few moments earlier. He bucks his hips extra hard and can’t help but feel very accomplished that she is making this much noise. All because of him.

The room is filled with their moans, skin slapping together and the sound of her wet pussy. He is getting closer and closer to his orgasm, but he needs her to cum again, before he does. Hearing from her desperate cries and her ragged breathing, she is pretty close again.

Darcie leans against his chest and when he looks to the side, he sees the tears streaming down her cheeks. She clenches tightly around him, her hands finding his and she digs her nails in his fingers as she quivers and shakes around him. ‘Yes, sweetheart,’ he whispers against her neck, ‘let it all go.’

His sweet Darcie rides out her high, but he doesn’t stop. He can’t stop anymore. ‘It’s so sensitive, John,’ she cries out.

‘I’m almost there, Darcie, just a little bit longer.’ And ever since she told him she doesn’t want to use a condom anymore, he has sworn to himself he is going to cum inside her every single time.

Normally, he’d let her clit go. As her cries imply, she’s getting pretty overstimulated, but now he can’t stop. He doesn’t want to stop. These sounds she is making, it’s driving him crazy. And if she wants him to stop doing what he is doing, she knows exactly what to say. She has yet to use it, but she knows.

Her desperate sobs fill his ear and his thrusts turn sloppy. He spurts his cum deep inside her and holds her tired body against his, as he makes sure every drop is well inside her. He pants against her soft skin, before he gently pulls out of her, soft whimpers leaving her lips. She lays down on the bed, his cum dripping out of her, onto the bed. He takes place beside her, stroking the sweaty locks out of her face. ‘Sweetheart, are you okay?’ he whispers.

She smiles weakly. ‘I am, baby. I just think that I can’t walk tomorrow.’

John starts to laugh.

‘Is this how it’s going to be now?’ she asks. ‘You are going to fuck me like this, now that we are married?’

His laugh is a lot louder than before. ‘Well, if you don’t mind, we could spice it up a little.’

She leans forward to give him a kiss. ‘We should,’ she whispers. ‘God, I’m such a lucky woman that I get to be loved by you.’

He pulls her against his chest, her face buried in his neck. Her warm body against his. Her lips pressed against his skin.

‘I do think I need a shower, though,’ she admits, ‘and we should clean the bed.’

‘I’ll take care of that,’ John tells her. ‘You know what, I’ll draw you a nice bath instead. Then I’ll change the sheets and maybe I can join you in bath.’

She looks up. ‘I love you, mister Wick.’

‘And I love you, Mrs. Wick.’


	13. Chapter 13

‘John, I really don’t like this,’ I say, when he walks behind me, his large hands covering my eyes as we walk through the hallway of our own house. ‘What if I bump into something?’

‘Do you honestly think I would let that happen?’ he asks. ‘We’re almost there, baby. Just need to go outside.’

It’s been three weeks since we got married and we’ve been back two days now, after our honeymoon. We went to Japan, since I really wanted to go there and it had been such a great experience and to be with John, made it a billion times better. He got us a private jet and the best hotel. I prize myself so insanely lucky that this man is my husband, especially since we’ve made a quick detour, so we could visit my family in South Korea. I actually think he did it, just so he could Seulgi again, because he kept talking about here when we mentioned the wedding. She even made him a little bracelet with colorful beads and he actually wears it right now.

Though it was a trip to never ever forget, I’m glad we’re home again. It’s nice to be back where we’re going to start our future together.

‘You are going to love this,’ John says when we stop walking.

He removes his hands from my eyes and my jaw practically dislocates because of sheer amazement. ‘Is that a Lamborghini Urus in a matte black color?’ I ask him. ‘Parked in our street?’

‘It is.’ He gives me a kiss on my cheek and adds: ‘And it’s yours.’

I must be hallucinating. When I turn around, I see John holding the keys in his hand. ‘What did you just say?’ I ask him, not being able to tear my gaze off the keys.

‘It’s yours,’ he repeats with a smile on his face.

‘Did you buy me this?’ I ask him.

He nods. ‘I felt like you needed your own car. I mean, you look insanely hot in my Mustang, but you are right: that car is too big for you. Since you are my wife, I felt like I wanted to buy you something.’

‘So you thought, let’s buy her a fucking Lamborghini?’

He chuckles and places the keys in my hand. ‘Mrs. Wick should drive a Lamborghini.’

‘Shut your face!’ I stare at the keys in my hand and I place a long kiss on his lips. ‘We should take it out for a test drive.’

John walks up to the car and opens the door on the drivers side. ‘Mrs. Wick,’ he says with a smile, helping me in the car. Since we’ve been married, he has made it a sport to call me Mrs. Wick whenever he can and to be honest, I really like it.

John gets in on the passengers side, while I’m adjusting the car to myself. This is such a better fit for me than the Mustang, though I love that car to pieces. ‘Imagine,’ I say, ‘me as a mom, picking up her kids in this car and then the next day, their dad picks them up in a Mustang. How amazing would that be?’

John has a smile on his face. ‘I bet all the dads want you.’

‘Just like all the mothers will want you.’ I start the car and buckle up. ‘This is so amazing. John, thank you so much. This is one of the best gift I’ve ever had.’

‘It’s my pleasure, sweetheart.’

We take this car out for a test drive and I think I’m beaming with pride the entire time. ‘When did you get this?’

‘Before our wedding, Aurelio and I went to a car dealer. I was originally going to check out some cars, before you and I went together, but then I literally stumbled across this one and I remember that you told me that you are more a Lamborghini type of girl.’

I smile. I can’t believe he remembered that moment. I barely remember that moment.

‘So, I thought, why not this one.’

‘John, I can’t believe you,’ I laugh, while slowing down for the traffic lights. ‘I have to buy you something great, now. Thanks for raising the bar here.’

John doesn’t answer right away. He places my hand on my leg. ‘Baby,’ he says in a serious tone. ‘You don’t need to buy me anything. I’m going to spend the rest of my life with you, you’re going to be the mother of our children and those are already the greatest gifts you could give me.’

‘No, no, no. You paid for the entire wedding, my wedding dress, our honeymoon, this car. Don’t even get me started on how you flew my entire family over from South Korea and back—also in a private jet—and made sure they stayed in the best hotels here in New York. On top of that, you bought the greatest house for us, I could ever imagine.’ I look to the side. ‘And don’t think I haven’t heard you, Raye and Jennie talking about expanding our cafe.’

He smiles. ‘Well, I want to spend it on you,’ he says. ‘Like I said before, I have too much money and spending it on you, your family and friends and our future, is the greatest thing I could do.’

I pull up and drive off to the nearest high way, because I want to drive this baby a little bit longer and faster. ‘I know that,’ I say. ‘It’s just hard to believe sometimes that you are really my husband and that you are this rich.’

‘I understand.’

‘Was Helen nervous about how much money you had?’

He swallows hard. Ever since our wedding, we made a promise that after the wedding he’d tell me more, he’d be more open. Sometimes I have to dig and pry a lot more for my liking, but there are moments where he simply tells me what is going on in his mind. It’s a relief and I can tell it’s working for him.

‘No,’ he finally says, ‘but that was more because I never told her about what I did for a living back then. You know, so it was easier for me to tell you.’

‘Did she even know about how much money you had?’

‘She knew that I had quite a lot of money, but not the exact number.’ He looks to the side. ‘Are you nervous?’

It takes me awhile before I can answer that. ‘Not yet.’

‘When would you get nervous?’

‘When we have kids and other parents will start to form an opinion.’

John nods. ‘Maybe I invested in your cafe and got loaded from that.’

‘Asshole,’ I laugh. ‘We should think about that.’

‘We will, but sweetheart, right now I have a very important question: Why are you driving fifty miles an hour in a Lamborghini?’


End file.
